Rebirth
by Tawnyshine
Summary: Rose Lawliet and Amaia Yagami are best friends. Will their terrifying family history cut a trench in their relationship? Find out in an exciting round of the New Kira vs. the New L!    Rated T for some minor swearing I DO NOT DO and I'm super paranoid.
1. Solid Ground

**A/N **Hey guys! This is my first story, so please don't be a hater! Only nice reviews!

**Disclaimer** I do not own Death Note or any characters.. just the OC's!

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Chapter 1. Solid Ground

Rose Lawliet sat cross-legged in her bedroom, math book on her lap. This was her best subject, but not neccesarily her _favorite._ It took her aboout five and a half minutes to finish the algebra assignment, and immediatley she was lying on her stomache with her nose in her favorite book; _The Notebook _by Nicholas Sparks. She had already read that love story about a million times, but this was just her favorite tear-jerker. Well, anything by Nicholas was a "tear-jerker", really, but this was the best. She was just a sap for those romantics with the extremely tragic, yet at the same time, smile inducing endings, the good kind that left you all numb and sober-ish after you've finished crying your guts out.

She was just getting to the part where Allie and Noah were playing fate by teasing the traffic lights in the road, and getting the crap scared out of them when they nearly get hit by a car when her mom called up the stairs, "Rose! It's Mai! She wants to know if you could go to a movie tonight. I'm sending her up now," she called. With a sigh, Rose shut the book and tucked it under her pillow; it was the perfect place to hide a book for flashlight reading after bed.

The unmistakable sound of heels clacking against stairs filled Rose's ears as Amaia Yagami prancd into the room, declaring in a sing-song voice: "Mai-Mai got us a date with a plasma flatscreen!" She hopped on the bed, sitting up straight and proud. _Just like her momma,_ Rose thought with a grin. Everybody knows that Amaia's mother was the famous idol, Misa Amani- now Yagami- and Mai was proud to show it; she had Misa's hair, and face shape, but from the pictures Rose had seen of her father, an extremely handsome, cute, and boyish looking man, she clearly took Light's deep chocolate eyes. Rose swore she had his lips, too, but the world insisted on making her as much like Misa as she could, so that was pretty much it. People saw what they wanted to see, she guessed.

With a sigh, Rose got up and stalked to her closet. If Mai was serious about going to a movie, at least she wouldn't be outdone in clothing. When it came to looks, Mai took the cake. Compared to her own raven black hair, dark eyes, pale skin, and habit of tracing her lip with her thumb, Mai was practically an idol. Not surprising, though; when you put her mother's history into account, it's not surprising to think of Mai as an actor or model. She even had some _serious_ pipes, so singing wasn't out of the career choice, either.

"What are you doing, Rose?" Mai said impaitently. "Mai-Mai said we were going to a movie; hence, _my house?"_ She had her hand on her hips. Well, if she was going to be _that_ way... Screw the dress, she was going to wear a simple jacket and jeans. Her favorite pairing of clothes.

Rose let out a secret sigh of relief. At least they weren't going _shopping, _ugh. Because when Mai said "night on the Town," she really meant "Stop breathing, stop what you're doing, and look at me because I want to shop til I drop and YOU'RE coming with ME, regardless of your plans." Yep, she definitely took after Misa.

Suddenly, something Mai said registered in her head a little too late. "Wait.. Mai-Mai, if we're going to a movie, how are we going to your house...?" Uh oh. Was Mai planning on turning Rose into a dress up doll? Oh please, God, no!

Mai smirked. "Well.." She stuck her hand under Rose's pillow and fished out _The Notebook_, a smug smile on her face. She knew all of Rose's secret hiding places, which would later prove to be fatal. "Mai-Mai knows how you love this book, and I thought if I could find the one DVD you didn't have..."

"You're kidding!" Rose exclaimed. "No way! I've been looking EVERYWHERE for that DVD! Where..?" She stammered, not believing Mai's words, wanting proof.

"The secret black market that Mom gets her hair dye from. Turns out they have entertainment stuff, too, not just beauty supplies. And besides. As an early sweet sixteen.." she pulled out a sleek, shiny black credit card. "Mom got me this!" She was practically jumping for joy.

"Shink; sparkle sparkle!" Rose added a sound effect for good measure.

In terms of Amaia's past, she had never really met her father. At least, she had never spoken to him. Nine years ago, Light was given the title of "L", best detective in the world. One year later, Mai was born. It would make sence for him to be too busy to meet her, what with the KIra investegations going on. But Rose knew it pained Mai more than she let on. Seven years ago, Light was murdered by KIra, and his death was enough evedence to capture a Teru Mikami for being "Kira". Mai did not attend the funeral. As if that weren't enough, Misa was being controlled for a short period of time, and was possessed by Kira. This was a particurlarly raw subject.

As for her own father... Rose had never met him. He was a cop, and he died in the field when her Mom was two months pregnant with Rose. Stranger still, she never saw any pictures of her Dad except.. except one. She didn't even know his _name._ Although, people she knew who also knew her father would often say things like "Your skintone matches his perfectly," or "You have his eyes," or "You look so much like your fathr when you smile!" and sometimes "You have the same bed-head, Rose!" And she guessed it was true; it was hard to compare yourself with a person you've never met.

She herself had large, obsidian black eyes, raven black hair and bangs that covered the most part of the top of her face. She was extremely self concious of her light skin, which was currently walking the line between "extremely pale" and "Translucent". Her mother told her that her dad always nibbled on and traced his lip with his thumb, just like she did. Her mom also said that the reason why Rose always sat cross-legged, and felt uncomfortable with her legs down and sitting normal, was because her father sat on the balls of his feet with his knees pulled to his chin when he was thinking. Once she had tried sitting like this, and found she could think clearer, sans the numbing of her right foot. She would have to get used to it... But once she tried this in class, she had earned a detention, mainly because she didn't have shoes on.

So she smiled as she glomped Mai and had her into a bear hug; and the two took the stairs two at a time and headed for Mai's house to watch a heartwarming movie.

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**Thanx for readin! Plzzzz leave a review! Or fave it!**


	2. Memory

**A/N **I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS!

Chapter Song: **We Have A Map of The Piano** by **Mum**

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Chapter 2. Memory

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"Wake up! Wake up wake up wake up it's your birthdayyy!" Mommy said, bouncing on my bed. "Rosie, guess what? You're seven! And you're that much more bea-yoo-ti-full!" She exclaimed. I giggled when she tickled me when my sleeping head wouldn't rise. "Guess what's in the kitchen? A verrrry special party set up for a princess!" she said. I grinned and got up.

Walking to the kitchen, I stopped and admired Mommy's handiwork before pulling up a chair. There were streamers everywhere, hanging from the ceiling, pinned on the wall, draped on the chairs. There was a big banner that said "Happy 7th Birthday, Rosie!" and a chocolate fudge cake that said the same. On the table, there was a purple tablecloth, purple plates, and presents wrapped in purple gift wrap. I would have felt like a grape if it weren't for the fact that I loved purple, and I was wearing black PJ's, so I didn't feel too overwhelmed with the sweet, light, airy lavendar color. It _did_ help that the streamers were rainbow, however.

Nibbling on my thumb, I opened the first present Mommy nudged toward me. It was a chemistry set- the very one I had wanted from the science exhibit at the museum we went to last month. Well, technically,last _year._ This was January. January 19th. My birthday.

The rest of the party was fairly fast, seeing as I had four, really big, really expensive gifts. I loved them all. But there was one left over, one that I had missed. It was blue, tiny, and square. It shimmerred in the right light, and it had a big red bow on it. The tag had a single letter on it; L. I guessed it stood for Lawliet. What else? My first name didn't start with "L" unless my alphabet was seriously confused. That wasn't likely. I looked at Mommy.

"Sweetheart.." she began. I knew this was serious. So _that's_ why she didn't bust out the camera this year. It was going to be a serious event. "Your.. Your father told me to give this to you when you were ready.. Even though I haven't opened it at all, and I don't know what it is, Sweetheart, I think you're ready." She gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

I trembled as I slid the red ribbon off the sparkly box. I folded it up and set it down; if this was special, I wanted the ribbon at least to be intact. I lifted the lid, barely, like a kid peeking in on a trapped frog, and blinked. It was... shiny? I opened it all the way and took out the single pendant. "Hmm.." I said. It was an intricately carved symbol, that L again. It was a polished brassy silver, and the inner part was black. On the back, it said "Always here". Seeing the inscription, I wondered what it could mean. Surely Mommy wouldn't be so serious with something like a family crest, or whatever, right? What did it mean?

And then I saw the picture frame.

Like the pendant, it was a silver brassy color. It had intricate swirls on the sides, and there was a rose shape on the top center. I took a deep breath, and Mommy gasped. It wasn't the beautiful rose frame that brought a hand to my chest, where my new L pendant now hung. It was the person _inside_ the frame.

He had messy, disheveled raven black hair, as if he ad just rolled out of bed, but still- it was attractive enough to wonder if he did it on purpose. He had pale skin and large, deep obsidian eyes. His bangs were casually, carelessly tossed over his face, and he had a kind, warm smile. He wore a neat white shirt, with elbow length sleeves and jeans. His hands were tucked into his pockets. The arms that belonged to those hands were thin, but still had muscle. I suddenly had a vision of myself tucked into his arms, feeling the reassuring warmth of his smile, loving how he whispered in my ear, _everything's alright now. The worst part is over..._ I blinked, and shook it out of my mind. I didn't want it to dissappear, no; I was just saving it for later. If I was going to think of this person, I would rather dream of this person than think of him in the open, where the wound would hurt the most. In my dreams, everything was numb. It was calm. It was _safe. _Why did I feel so strongly?

This person looked exactly like me.


	3. Cherry Red

**A/N **Yes, I know I've been uploading A LOT of chapters. What can I say? I live alone, and I get bored.

I do NOT own Death Note or any of the respective characters. Only Amaia and Rose. Heck, only their first names. Although, I do wish the Yagami/Lawliet families were mine, but they just **aren't. I do not claim anything.**

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Chapter Three: Cherry Red

_Just one.. more.. level... I just gotta make it past this boss and... _

"Ahh! Crap!" I exclaimed. Stupid zombie.

"Matt?" Mello looked up, startled at my sudden outburst. I had been silent for at least three hours, which was extremely out of character for me. ".. Are you alive?" he taunted. There was a playful look in his eyes, and he tossed me a chocolate bar. Wow. He must be in a generous mood today. He never lets anyone touch his chocolate. Ever.

"Uhh... what's the catch?" I said cautiously before I unrapped it. Usually he baited me like this when he needed something. Like shopping.

"None this time, I swear. I'm in a good mood today, that's all. Don't make me take it back." He scowled playfully. He turned away to the kitchen and I put my DS down. I waited untill he set his glass of milk down to tackle him. We wrestled for a bit untill I called uncle. I shouldn't have tackled him in the first place, that guy was strong. But his wise crack expression made the decision for me. And besides, it had been since.. Well, since Wammy's House days that we last play fought. He tousled my hair and got up, brushing an imaginary speck of dust off his leather jacket.

I stuck my toungue out at him and lowered my goggles onto my eyes, tinting everything orange. "I'm going out for a joyride; wanna come?" I asked, slipping the chocolate into my pocket for later. Unlike a certain blond, I knew how to make food last. That guy goes through four boxes a month.

"Sure, why not." he said. He grabbed another one of the chocolate bars and followed me to the garage. Now, here's where we differ; Mello is addicted to chocolates. Well, I'm addicted too. Not to chocolate, though... Mels calls them "cancer sticks" but to me, a ciggarette is just a ciggarrette... and it's not as if I could stop. Mels understands to a point. There's no way he could just give up his sugary sweet confections.

I jumped into my cherry red Camaro, rubbing the hood affectionately before I started the engine. Mello rolled his eye before getting into the car. I made an exaggerated show of stretching while he took his sweet time. Why couldn't he just grasp the concept of hopping _over_ the door? For God's sake, the guy stradles motorcycles.

After checking my imaginary watch for the fifth time, I realized he wasn't moving, just standing there with his arms crossed, laughing as he watched me express what a slow poke he was. I reached across and unlocked the door, not that he couldn't have just put his arm over it and unlocked it himself. "There, happy now?" I asked. He opened the door and sat in. "Finally." I joked. Within minutes, we were roaring through Tokyo, pushing the cherry red sweet thing to her limit. Well, the legal limit, anyway. I was kinda pushing it hanging around with an ex-mafia member. But what else would we do? The only reason Mels was on his own for the first couple months was because I didn't want to leave Wammy's. But in those four months, Mello had found himself in a mafia, adopted a gun that he treated as one of his most prized possessions, and gotten a scar on the left side of himself, which he developed by exploding the building that he was fighting the police chief in. On top of that, he had kidnapped the chief's _daughter,_ Sayu Yagami, and caused her to go into so much shock, (witnissing her father get shot down, and being put into captivity by your very own blond) that she was now paralyzed and could not speak. But what really takes the cake, he wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble if I had left Wammy's House with him... I was too selfish, I didn't want to give up.

Did I blame myself for Mello's spiral into rage?

No. Did I blame myself for abandoning him when he needed me the most?

Yes, yes I did. I had never actually in my life killed a person, but I feel that if I hadn't tracked down Mels, he would be dead by now.

And it's mostly my fault. So, I promised myself that I wouldn't ever abandon anyone again. Although, I can make an exception for a few people... Well, one in particular. If the time would ever come, I would relish turning my back on Kira.


	4. L

**A/N **I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT ROSE AND AMAIA!

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The Song for This Chapter is: ** **Start Shootin' **by **Little People**

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Yes, another chapter. I don't get any reviews, or hits, for that matter... But thx to you, Deepoblivion99, I at least want to keep the chapters flowing. For my only fan :D *tell your friends.. I got a couple hits from Canada, but I don't think they liked it :P*

NOTE: Most of these scenes are **flashbacks**. In real time, the girls are **17(Rose) **and** 15 (Mai)**

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Chapter Four: L

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A nine year old me sat holding my father's picture. Two years ago, I had recieved it for my birthday. For two years, the "L" pendant had never left my neck. But there was something... different about the right hand bottom corner of the frame... it was slightly bent. And there was something behind it... But yet, I didn't want to disturb the picture I still slept with under my pillow. Shaking my head, I flipped the picture over and took the back off, aiming to at least fix the bent corner.

But there wasn't just a picture; there was a layer of cardboard, like usual, then there was parchment, then the photo. Corner worries forgotten, I lifted the parchment, confused. Could it be a will? If so, why hide it? But no, I realized, it was a letter. I looked, and it said-

Dear Rose,

_I know by now, you've discovered the pendant, and wondered what it means. It simply means what it states, I will always be there for you. Should there come a time when you need reassurance, or anything like that, I will be there. By taking off the backing of this frame, it will have set of a device where I'm at to let me know you have discovered the letter. If you get a-_

_RR-I-I-I-I-N-N-GGG! _I jumped when the phone went off. Thinking it was Mai-Mai, I stood up and put the letter on the desk. I would get back to that later._ Mai-Mai, my friend, _I thought, _you are very kind despite being a model's daughter. _I answered the phone, subconciously noticing the caller-ID said _number withheld._

"Hello?" I asked.

_"Is this Rose L.?" _A smooth, yet spoiled, childlike voice filtered through the phone. Ignoring what I had learned from talking to strangers, I replied.

"Yes, this is she... May I ask who's speaking?" I asked, cautiously. Why was he addressing me?

_"Good," he said. "I thought our Ellie had either opened the box without you or answered the phone. Where is she, anyway?"_ He asked, as if we had been friends since grade 1. Which, due to his kid-like voice, was easy to imagine.

"Uh..." I had a gut instinct not to lie to this person. There was a familiar feeling, one that I couldn't quite place... "She's not here at the moment, could I take a message?"

_"No, no. This is for you, Rose. Are you free to roam about town? I know you're only nine, but surely this world isn't so dangerous for a girl.. especially a girl like you." _I blushed, thankful he couldn't see through the phone. How did he know I was nine?

"Umm... I _think_ so. At least I can go to the park and Mai-Mai's house by myself..." What was I doing? He could be a bad man! "How do you know me, Mr.? How can I be sure I'm safe?" I blurted, playing dumb like most nine year olds. Momma always said I was born a decade older than my age.

_"Rose... Rosie... If you meet me at the park in.. fifteen? Twenty minutes? I'll show you who I am. It's much more courteous than blurting the whole story through the phone."_ He said, an ancient sadness layering his voide with thickness. In the background, I could hear an elderly voice saying something along the lines of _Ryuzakki-san, are you sure about this?_

Well, if that was his father, older brother or even butler, he sounded worried. If there was a chance this "Ryuzakki" was in any danger by going to the park, or just meeting me in particular, then that gave me _some_ confidence. Perhaps I could find a way to use that against him, if he _was_ a bad man. But, all the same...

"Okay," I said, trying not to sound as nervous as I looked.

"_Always here," _The phone said, and the line was disconnected. I dropped the phone,

_Always here..._

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"That's it, Mai-Mai, more pout!" _flash _ "Work it! Work it!" the photographer was frantically flashing his camera, getting all angles of myself. My personal favorite was when I was wearing a pink maid's outfit. This was my first photoshoot, and Mom was here giving me tips.

"Mai-Mai, you were born to be a star!" Mom announced. I smiled and posed some more, the photographer getting evrything.

"Mai-Mai never thought it would be so _fun!" _I exclaimed. Like my mother, I had a habit of talking in third person. Rosie always said it was the "annoying way she would have to rely on to make me out from the rest of the shining stars," which made me feel humbled to be a "star".

When the shoot was over, Mom took me to a nice little restaraunt down town. I had never been here, and it was nice and homey. Mom said that this was where she saw my father for the first time. Granted she was in a disguise (to hide from papparazzi, I assumed), this was the very place where she had looked into his eyes for the first time.

"Mai-Mai, go order yourself a nice sundae; I'll wait right here, 'kay?" she sat down at a round table by the window. I skipped across the shop, laying my money down and ordering a cherry sundae for myself, deciding to surprise Mom with a parfait. She loved those.

When I got back, there was a little black notebook on ithe table, and my mom took a deep breath.

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A/N ooooo now things r getting serious! :D **

**I just want to send another "thank yuu" to ****DeepOblivion99**** (go to my reviews; she's the only one on the list.) **

**Also, not every chapter will have a "chapter Song" it's just a little thing I did because I thought the song would fit.**

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Pretty soon the flashbacks will stop and we'll be caught up to the present, where Mai's currently at. Who knows why Rosie's being so emotional and rememberin' painful pasts? LD Maybe it's the **_**Notebook**_** movie that made her cry :P I made it a personal joke to have a DeathNOTE fanfic to have something about a NOTEbook in it. Get it? If not, don't ask. It ruins the effect.**


	5. Andrew

**A/N **Hi guys :) just curious.. WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET A HIT? :D LOL JK... I already have a hit from Europe O.O note the word **A**. ONE person from Europe is reading my fan fic, and probably laughing their head off because I'm a suckish writer :/

**i don't own **_**anything**_ **except the OC's. (As of now, Amaia, Rose, and our newest OC, Andrew.) Get it? Got it? Good. Carry on.**

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Chapter 5. Andrew

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"What?" I snapped, flicking my phone open. The number was withheld. I didn't want to buy any crap.

_"Andrew," _a metallic voice filtered through the phone. _"relax. I'm not selling. I know how you hate telemarketers. Or socializing, for that matter."_

Crap. "Near?" I asked. "Why is the number withheld? I get it, safety reasons and all, but it's really annoying when I have to answer to every frikkin' withheld number there is. I've been through twelve advertisers, four girls asking if I want to buy cookies, even some diptard asking if I want to go to their _church, _all in the last _hour!_ What's that about? Jeez, at least don't hide your number!"

_"For one, if I gave you my personal number, it could get traced. I'm using Gevanni's phone, and he hates to have to be a go-between, anyway. But if it means that much to you, go to your computer now, please." _the sheep asked politely. Politely irratating.

"Fine. But why?" I said, switching it on. A black "N" in wedding text on an elegant white backdrop filled the screen, and the metallic voice now filtered through my speakers.

_"This is why, Andrew. Don't bother setting up a webcam; all I see is the "A" I have set up for when I contact you. Just find the microphone, and you can hang up the phone now. Gevanni's on a minute plan, and those are expensive, you know." _I could hear the smirk in his voice. Why would _he _worry about money? They're all frikkin' rich!

I hung up the phone and dug around the cluttered desk until I produced a microphone. Plugging in into my computer, I quickly selected a filter. I spoke into the microphone, testing it; "Whaddaya want, N?"

_"You're in LA, right?" _the white haired boy asked.

"Yeah... why?" I said with cautiousness. "You said Gevanni doesn't like to be a go-between; neither do I, Near."

_"...I know, Andrew." _Silence. _"But you wouldn't be a go-between, not for this particular mission. You would be the sole person on this mission. I don't want to ask Mello or Matt this time. They're in Tokyo, and you're already there. So, what I'm saying is, the Kira killings are... well, Andrew, they've started again."_ That last sentence hung in the air for some time.

"And... what do you want... me... to do about it?" I asked, still shocked. It's been seven years! How is this possible?

_"You know that Misa Yagami was the second Kira before. Her daughter turns sixteen soon, this June. Perhaps they've... taken matters into their own hands again. I want you to investigate them, ecspecially the girl. I believe her name is Amaia. Go now. You'll find them at the Ritz hotel. They may be in the suite, but I'm not sure. I'm no Matt, I can't hack into the information there. Are you up for it?" _he asked.

He's kidding, right? "Well, I have two choices here; ignore you, which is preferable, but then I would have to stay in this stupid apartment for God knows how long."

_"That doesn't sound comfortable," _Near concluded. Do durr.

"Or... I could go out and get some action, 'wake up', and all the while, have a legit reason for stalking two cute girls. Hmmm..." I pretended to think hard. "I'm gonna go with hell yeah, I'm in. Could you give me any objectives on what to look for? I know they kill with a book, but..."

_"Just watch for suspicious activities. Try to get all their converastions on a recording. And if possible, get every second you're with them on video. I'll need to observe as well, so if one of us misses something the other one catches-"_

"Then we'll point it out to the other so we don't miss something vital, and end up screwing ourselves because of one slip up. Am I right?" I asked.

_"Yes, that's correct. I think I should let you know of the Corvette that Gevanni just dropped off at your place. It should have a full tank of gas, and I think you should find the accomodations to your likings. Matt hand picked it for you. You don't have to pay a cent, it's all taken care of,"_ the snowy headed boy said.

"Really? You're not pulling my leg?" and then I noticed something Near had said. "Wait.. When you say Matt hand picked it... You don't mean Grand Theft Auto, do you?" looked like I was going to have to remove the license plates...

_"Whatever gave you that idea, Andy?" _I cringed. I hated being called Andy.

"Well, it's not as if Matt hasn't done it before; I wouldn't be surprised if he stole Mello's bike once or twice just to twork him off," I explained.

_"Ah. The keys will be in the ignition. Thank you, Andrew." _And then, Near ended the transmition.

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**Shoutout to Dawn and DeepOblivion99 for the reviews. You make an insignificant girl's world go round :D**


	6. Judgement

**A/N **I knew updating early would pay off! thanks for the reviews, guys. So glad I didn't let this get burried!

**I DO NOT OWN DEATH NOTE. THIS IS GETTING ANNOYING TO KEEP WRITING, SO GET IT THRU UR THICK SKULL XD**

**I also apoligise for any spelling errors I made in the past; I got lazy :P**

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Chapter 6: Judgement

"Huh?" I repeated. I could not understand, could not grasp it. My mom was...?

"I know this is hard for you, Mai. But it's true. It's real. And now, you need to take this book. _You_ need to carry on Kira's will. It's been seven years; The criminals are relaxing now. That can't happen!" Mom insisted. I just sunk into the plush chair, forgetting I was in public... I now had the power to.. to _kill._

It wasn't right. It wasn't _natural. _Kira killed people. Kira _murdered_ people. Kira murdered my _father! _ True, I could live with the fact that my mother could've been possessed by Kira.. But I could not believe.. would not believe that she _willingly_ took this... this Notebook of Death. And murdered with it.

I felt light headed. If I was going to cope, I had to... to get over it.

My world was upside down. Spinning... turning... I was dizzy...

"..Mai... Maii.. AMAIA!" I snapped out of it as my mom grabbed my hand. It was with a numb face that I reached out and picked up the black notebook, feeling the leather touch my hand.

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"Crap!" I exclaimed. "Near, are you getting this? They just exchanged a notebook. I'll try to get a visual..." I zoomed the camera into full focus, getting the notebook in the younger girl's hands full screen. "Is that a death note?"

_"Yes, that is. Good job, Andrew. I didn't expect results so fast. I want you to tail them, possibly get to know Miss Amaia. You _are _only one year older. A sixteen year old and a fifteen year old can go to the same school. What do you say?"_ Near inquired.

"Ah... why not? You got me a Corvette. I owe ya one." I said. I had never left my car, so leaving was a sinch. Just turn the key and I was out of there.

_"Actually, the Corvette was a favor. See, Matt owed me, so.. I figured _he_ could pay for your new car. It only fits, he knows more about them than I do."_ Near said through the speaker that I oh-so cleverly disguised as a head set for a CD player.

I snickered at the sheep's remark. "I'm just glad he didn't get me a red one," I said, breathing in new car scent once more. I had a lightning blue Corvette, and I was very, very happy that I wasn't stuck with a Camaro. Those were sweet cars, don't get me wrong. Those cars are just Matt's thing, though. "Speaking of Matt, how is the little hacker?" I asked.

_"He and Mello are just fine." _I heard him snicker. _"Mello's still addicted to chocolate, Matt's still addicted to niccotine and videogames. And I see you're still addicted to nothing. You know, you really need to develop a strange quirky habit. It seems to be most of our trademarks. Unless you want to be known as 'the bland one', huh?" _ he teased.

Rolling my eyes, I said "Hey, being your guinea pig seems to work just fine, Near." My voice was just a little harder than I meant. Nevertheless, I pushed the _end_ button on the transmitter.

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A/N **Yes, I know it was a short chapter :D I just wanted to get the main point across that Andrew, Mello, and Matt are in good terms with each other. Unlike how a certain blond feels toward a certain albino... hehe XD

Thanks to DeepOblivion99, dawn, and Serpentine S for being epically awesome readers! XD I got 7 hits from _Venesuela._ I am so proud of myself right now! ^^

**EDIT Something's wrong with the pagebreaks...**


	7. Mind Games

**A/N **Hey guys! Sorry about last chapter, the page breaks were screwed up :( Might still be...

**Yet again, I only own Mai, Rose, and Andrew.**

**The song for this chapter is: Kloy Gyn **by **Efterklang**

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Chapter 7: Mind Games

I laced up my boots, as it was rainy and foggy today. Pulling on a raincoat, I tried to shake the fog from my mind after that phonecall. How had that stranger known... anything?

Walking out the door, I began to shiver, though I was sweating. Looking back, I think I had went into shock, but I pulled through, I guess. At least I could breathe. Fighting the urge to vomit, I walked. As I walked, the rain eased up, and several cars passed. I calmed down, feeling exhausted. I looked at my watch. Shocked, I realized that only so much as eight minutes had passed. I stretched, and walked a little faster now that my stomache wasn't trying to murder itself.

When I got to the park, I realized I was several minutes early. I walked over to a swing and just sat there, my raven black hair spilling over my shoulder. I looked down at my hands, which were folded into my lap. I should be pretty easy to spot; I was the only kid here who looked even close to a nine year old. The majority of kids here were either balancing on the fence talking or playing football in the mud. I didn't look up no matter what; I didn't want to see him coming when he did.

But it startled me to see a pair of socks step in the mud, sending a ripple of water across the puddle. So of course, being nine, I looked up to see the idiot who wanted to get hypothermia.

The first thing I noticed was the hair- it looked like he had just woken up, rolled out of bed, and walked out the door. It was very attractive. Then I noticed the eyes. They were deep, large and round. They were an obsidian color, much like my own, and once I looked into them, they seemed to lock onto mine. I couldn't move, couldn't look away. A strange feeling pulsed through me; but not fear. It was warm; I _loved _it.

My concentrated attention was broke when he smiled, and blinked. "It's okay," he said. I was instantly reminded of my dreams that I had almost every night. Only this time, when he embraced me, he did not let go the moment I opened my eyes. The tears flowed freely, and he patted the back of my head comfortingly.

"I... I thought you were... I thought..." I couldn't end the sentence, but instead, buried my face into my father's shoulder.

* * *

When I woke up, I was back in my bed. I sat up, looking around everywhere my head would swivel, but Daddy wasn't there. Hopelessly, thinking it was all a dream, I leaned my head back against the headboard of my twin bed, my hand clutching the L pendant as hard as it would.

I only had time for a couple tears to slip out when I realized something; my boots were by my bedroom door, which was closed, a major red flag; boots weren't allowed on the carpet, and I never shut my door. Another thing was that my hair was damp and smelled of rain. But the strongest thing of all was the sweet scent that had clung to my purple shirt; I sniffed it and smiled a sweet smile of relief; it wasn't a dream.

I got out of bed, making a mental comment to myself about how it had been two hours since the park. I opened the door and decended down the stairs, where I found my father sitting strangely on the couch, a peaceful look on his face. I decided to tiptoe down the rest of the stairs, and get a better look.

He was sitting on the balls of his feet, with his knees pulled up to his chin. His arms were crossed and his head was resting them. There was something about the distant look in his eye that told me he was clearly at peace.

I blinked a couple times, and walked across the living room to sit on the couch, nibbling my thumb and resting my head on his shoulder. He smiled and turned his head towards me, and I looked at him.

"Did you get some rest?" He asked, concern thick in his voice. I nodded, condradicting myself by yawning. "Good," he chuckled warmly. He unfolded himself, taking my chin in his hands, hypnotising me with his eyes again. It took me a while to figure out what he was doing.

_He's trying to see how much I look like him, _I though with a start. I blanked and grinned. "You know," I said, very matter-of-factly, "almost everyone I meet that was around when you and Momma were together compares me to you. They even say we have the same habits." Speaking of habits, I really needed to get my hand away from my teeth before I accidentally break the skin...

A self-satisfactory smile broke through his face. His hand moved from my chin to cupping my cheek and he said, "You know, Rosie," in a very matter-of-fact tone, mimiking me, "I missed you every day of my existance." He smiled at the same time I smiled, and we both laughed a little.

You know how you always hear of foster kids meeting their real parents for the first time? How they always say it's so awkward? Well, it wasn't like that for me, not at all. It was all so easy, we just had to laugh and smile, and talk about things we've missed. By the time Momma came home from work, he had already tucked me into bed and left after I fell to sleep holding his hand.

In the morning, I wanted to sing about how wonderful my father was, but something inside me told myself not to let Momma know; It just seemed too private. So life continued, I met him at the park after school, we ate a candy or two together, which he seemed to really like, and I was asleep before eight. Having fun wore me out. Daddy said because if you use your brain too much, it starts to actually burn calories. He said that since my brain was working overtime to learn as much about him as possible, I was getting tired easier. That's why he always keeps candy with him, he says. If his blood sugar gets too low, he'd pass out. He didn't have to explain why his brain worked overtime all the time; I knew my daddy was a genius.

**

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A/N **Yes, I know; what are the possibilities of L having a wife, must less a kid? I'll tell you what. It's called a fanfic, ppl. Deal wit it.

**Shout out to ****Deepoblivion99****, ****Dawn, ****and ****Serpintine Sarracenia **** for the **_**nice**_** comments! :D I appreaciate it :D**


	8. Movie

**A/N **Gahh! Fourth page D: c'mon, guys, youy can do better :D comment comment comment! :D

(Not gonna bother bolding this) I dont own anything, kks?

The Song for This Chapter is: **Now There's That Pain Again **by **Mum**

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Chapter 8: Movie

* * *

We were both crying by the time the movie was over. Rosie had her head on my shoulder, and I felt bad for getting tears in her hair, but come on, she was getting her shirt soaked with her own so I doubt it made that mush difference. I made a mental note to read the actual book; they're always better than the movie. And with _The Notebook,_ that should be maximum feeling. I looked down at Rosie's face. Her eyes were distant; she was crying, but I could tell it wasn't from the movie.

"Rose?" I asked tentatively. she said nothing. I didn't think she heard me, so I rested my head on hers. When I thought about it, really thought, there was something to be done. What would Rose think if she... if she knew? It was no secret that she was Anti-Kira, and I didn't want to jepordize our friendship...

"Mai..." she said, looking up at me with her scorching black eyes. OH, God. She was... depressed? She surprised me by standing up. "I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom..." No, it wasn't depression. It was thought. She was deep in thought. But what, exactly, was she thinking of?

* * *

I blinked away the fake tears and pulled out a cell phone. I pressed four, Near's speed dial.

"Near," I whispered once I was upstairs. "I'm in her house. Now what? You can't forget she's my best friend... I can't hurt her. But why do you think Mai's Kira?"

_"I have... recources." _he said simply. What the heck did that mean?

"Near..." I trailed off. Ever since... what was it, nine years? Ten? I was letting time slip away from me. I had been secretly working for Near, whom I met all those days that Dad took me to a place called Wammy's House so many times before. All that was over now...

_"Well I can't tell you over the phone, can I?"_ He asked me. I guess it was true; any number could be traced, and recorded. That was the first thing I learned at Wammy's.

"I guess not... but when?" I meant when could I visit him to discuss our options. He would understand.

_"As soon as possible, Rose. Preferably when you leave. Do you want me to send Gevanni to pick you up? You could say it's your mother...?"_ he asked. He was, in all meanings of the word, "overly protective" of me, even though he was only a few years older than me himself.

"No, Near. I'm fine. I don't need Gevanni to escort me. Hey, here's an idea. Mello's got a bike. It's more conventional than a limo, you have to admit."

_"True... Then again, Matt's got a Camaro. It's safer than a shiny metal death trap, you have to admit,"_ there was a hint of tart in his voice.

"Fine!" I said, exasperated. "Just don't stick me with a limo. Please, Near. That's the most conspicuous thing to think of!" How could he not have thought this through?

_"Yes, I suppose so..."_ he sounded resigned. Why?

"So... about fifteen more minutes, 'kay? And I want to hear Matt say it's okay! I don't like imposing!" but the line was already dead. Great.

I walked down stairs, perhaps a little too cheerfully. "Feeling better?" Mai asked.

"Yeah..." I trailed off. Stretching, I said "Mom just called me. She's sending my.. uh..." Crap!What should Matt be? Why would Mom know him? "Mom's sending my cousin to pick me up. Can you watch for a red car?" I improvised. I hoped Matt would play along.

"Sure!" Mai said, not noticing my hesitation. "Here," she tossed me a can of Cola. "for the road. I hate when I get thirsty in a car and there's nothing there to drink."

"Oh, well... Um, thanks." I nodded, feeling bad because she was my best friend, and here I was, being led on to believe she was Kira.

"No problem!" she cheerily called. "Looks like your cuzzy's here. Say hi for me?" she looked out the window as Matt pulled up, an easy smile on his face. _What I wouldn't give to be Matt,_ I thought. _He's so worry free. He really has nothing to worry about. He's faced death once, laughed in it's face, and barely scraped away with his life. As far as I know, Mello, Near and I are the only ones who know he's even alive._

My thoughts were interrupted as Matt honked the car horn. I rolled my eyes, genuinely smiling, and grabbed my jacket, walking out the door.

* * *

I tapped the steering wheel restlessly. Should she be out here by now? Maybe it was a girl thing. Still; when did fifteen minutes turn to twenty? Taking a long drag of my cigarette, I tried to calm down. Just because Amaia was Kira, I doubted she would be as stupid as to kill her closest friend when she was under surveilance. And we didn't have any solid evidence; the notebook Andrew saw them exchange could have been any old notebook, and they could have been talking about the boys in the yearbook.

I was about to get out and knock on the door when she came walking out. I smiled to myself for jumping to conclusions. Putting out my cigarette, I got out to open the door for her.

"Um... I could have opened it by myself..." she said, blushing. I laughed at how quickly her pale skin turned the color of cream and roses. Was it all too embarassing to have a fellow SPK member open the car door for you? Girls.

"Yeah, well." I said. Should I tell her? Nah, I'll leave that to Near. He had a better way of wording these things. Besides, if she was going to flip out, I didn't want her to do it while I was driving.

"You're in a good mood today," she remarked.

"Yep," I said. As I pulled out of the driveway, she tugged on my sleeve. I frowned. "You okay?" She just smiled and prodiced a can of Cola.

"I managed to nab two," she said, opening mine for me, as both of my hands were busy keeping the wheel straight. She opened hers, and handed my mine. We clanked our cans together, customary for us. "Cheers," she said, before taking a sip. I sipped my own, loving how the fizzy drink swirled around, like a mini explosion of Cola.

"So.." I was trying to make a conversation here. Nothing more awkward than a quiet car ride. "Did you find a little black book?" I said jokingly. She rolled her eyes.

"Nope, but she's got plenty of books, and not one of them is more than ten chapters," she openly joked. I laughed.

"Should I drop you off at your place, or...?" I asked. Near wasn't exactly specific.

"No, Near said he wanted to see me ASAP," she said, grimacing. Nodding, I followed the road until it forked off. Only a few more minutes and we would be at the SPK Head Quarters.

"Well... Do you know what he wants to talk to you about?" I asked.

"I'm assuming it has to do with the Kira investigation. Why?"

"Just curious," I said. Well, Near,_ I'm _not tellin her. So ha.

"Hey, Matt," she said suddenly. "Why is Near dead set on Mai being Kira? What wakes him so sure?" she was genuinely perplexed. I could tell she was worried about her friend.

"Well..." I started. "You can't tell Near I'm telling you this, either." She sat up straighter. Well, no going back now. "I'm not really supposed to tell you this, but... You remember Andrew, right?" she nodded. "Near had him tail Amaia. He caught it on tape, too, if you don't believe me on this, but... Misa and Amaia exchanged a black notebook at a cafe. Near's certain it's a Death Note." I cringed as the color left Rose's face.

"Oh," was all she said.

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Hey guys! Just wanting to say sorry for the later than normal update... I got writer's block as soon as Mai said "I think..." XD


	9. Surprises

**A/N **Thank you guys! ^^ Your support really helps me get motivated to get up off my lazy keester write the next chapter. Also, Thanks to DeepOblivion99 for being my Beta Reader. :)

The Song for this Chapter is: **When it Rains** by **Paramore**

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Chapter 9: Surprises

No wonder Near told me to sit down. What? Why... _how?_ What could be running through that little white imp's mind to make him convinced that I would accept to this without question? If he honestly thought I would give in, he was either mentally retarded or just overly hopeful.

I looked down at my hands and forced myself to regain my composure. The soft chair I was sitting suddenly felt prickly. I could feel Near's gaze burning into the top of my head as I looked at my lap. Stiffening, I looked up and met his gaze directly.

"...Why?" I calmly voiced the one worded question that my mind was not-so-calmly screaming at the top of it's mental lungs.

"You know why. Amaia Yagami is Kira. She knows your full name, she knows your face, and she owns a Death Note. Right now, the only thing we got going for us is the fact that Matt here knows CPR," beside me the red headed gamer sunk into his seat and blushed a violent shade of scarlet, pulling his goggles over his eyes.

"But what good will it do? Yeah, you've heard of people surviving things like jumping off of cliffs, but what will Matt or Mello do if I start dying of a _heart attack?_ Stand there and watch?" I glanced back at my goggled and scarred companions. I would be devastated if one of them died; I knew they felt the same way. We were tight.

Mello coughed. "Near just said Matt knows CPR," he mischeviously glanced from me to Matt, who just whimpered and sank into his chair some more.

"If Amaia chooses to make you die of a heart attack, there's more than likely nothing we can do about it," he said, ignoring Mello entirely. _Translation; I'm screwed, and he doesn't want to upset me. _"But however, if she tries to... be creative... with your death... That's where Mello and Matt can help. If they can somehow prevent you, say, from commiting suicide, then you can go into hiding while Amaia thinks she's got you out of the way." Near absentmindedly twirled a lock of his white hair. I was suddenly reminded of Goldie Locks, for some absurd reason.

"What if she has the eyes?" My question hung in the air, and Near faltered, pausing for a moment. "All it takes is for Mai to see Mello's, Matt's, and my name, she'll know I'm not dead just by seeing my name floating out there somewhere, and she'd kill me for sure, no matter what disguise I wore. As for Mello and Matt, if they're not careful, they could get killed right along with me. I can't... I _won't__**... **_allow myself to be the cause of their deaths." I glared defiantly back at Near, daring him to say something disagreeable.

"..." They all looked at me. Near looked as if I had slapped him. "I... I haven't thought of it... that way, Rose..." Great. Meaning he had forgotten Mai could have the eyes as well. And Ner was supposed to be the genius here!

Mat had sat up to his full height, and the last of the red was gone from his cheeks. He wouldn't make eye contact with me, though. Well, if he did, I wouldn't know. I was too busy avoiding his eyes... And trying to ignore the thought of mouth to mouth CPR.

"But, all the same, why... just, why?" I was desperate to know the answer from Near, the "mastermind" behind all this in the first place.

He was silent for a moment, before he said, "They'll keep you safe, Rose."

* * *

I got to drive us home. Like there was any choice, really. Mello didn't bring his bike, as Near had sent Gevanni to pick him up back at our place. Rose got shotgun, and she just sat there, gnawing on her bottom lip. Mels sat in the back gnawing on a chocolate bar.

I looked over at Rose to ask how she was doing, but she was looking out the window, so I just turned back to the road. I went a little faster, as it was getting late and Rose had school hte next day. It was only Wednesday, but it felt like Saturday. Weird.

I pulled into the driveway and locked the car after everyone was out. Rose just looked down at the ground. I was starting to get worried. She hadnt said anything since Near said that "We would keep her safe." What the hell did that mean? Sure we could probably lenf her a bullet proof vest, but like she said, how could we defend against a Death Note? That's like the undefeatable boss in the last level. Speaking of Death Notes and videogames, they really need to make that a power in Mario. Luigi gets a notebook; "Press 'Y' to cause heart attacks, 'B' for suicide." It would be epic.

Yeah, I have ADHD. With videogames, anyway. Get used to it.

I glanced over at the raven haired girl and gently called her name. She quickly wiped her arm over her eyes, removing all traces of tears and looked at me.

"Hmmm?" she mumbled, testing her voice. It broke, and she coughed to cover it up. She was broken. I cringed.

"Rose..." I repeated. I scratched my head, then opened the door for her, while Mello was lingering by the car for some strange reason. "... I'm not sure if this is the right context, but... Welcome home?"

**

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A/N: haha didja figure it out? :P If not you'l get it in the next chappie, don't worry :D**


	10. Bad Dreams

**A/N **In an earlier chapter, L refers to Rose's mom as Ellie... this is his pet name for Emilee.

**minor fluff... nothing too serious though... if holding hands isn't serious...**

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The song for this chapter is: **Where Does the Good Go** by **Tegan and Sara**

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Chapter 10: Bad Dreams

The night started out normally; Rose and I sat on the couch and made fun of stupid sitcoms, while Mels sat in the chair, chocolate bar in hand, laughing more at what we said than the TV. It was around the time Rose usually went home that it got... awkward.

When we got back to the house, Rose relaxed after a cup of hot chocolate (courtesey of a chocolate bar stolen by yours truly), and she actually smiled. I was relieved, because I was prepared to resort to tickling the crap out of her. That made people laugh, right?

I whipped out my DS after Mels abandoned us for his bed, and Rose grinned. Grabbing her own pink one from her bag, we sat on the floor and dueled each other like there was no tomorrow. We both got tired of it after about the third battle. I had "trained her in the arts of the Nintendo," and we were equally matched.

Rose glanced at the clock and almost flipped out. "It's two A.M.! How am I going to wake up for school tomorrow?" she gnawed on her lip. I felt bad for keeping her up. Maybe she would just have to ditch.

"You could call in sick?" I suggested. That shouldn't be a problem, unless she was aiming for perfect attendance. She looked at me and grimaced.

"I guess so..." the seventeen year old rested her chin on her hand sitting cross legged, across from me. "But then what? I just... hang around all day?"

"Pretty much... Or you might want to get some air. Mels and I aren't exactly the most entertaining hosts, ya know." Well, it was true. I mainly played XBox or DS... I can't remember the last time I was on a computer... And Mello was usually out on his bike. Aside from the TV, there wasn't that much interaction among the house.

She lightly punched my shoulder. "Ah, you're plenty fun to hang out with, Matt. As long as you have multi-player games, I won't be bored," she stifled a yawn.

"Alright, get to bed," I said, ruffling up her hair. "The guest bedroom's down the hall, you know the one."

"The one you used to keep all your games in?" she checked.

"That's the one. If you need anything, just get it. It's not as if there's a set of rules around here." I stretched and yawned myself. "We don't follow rules, so we can't make them." I laughed, helping her to her feet, and she giggled.

"'Night, Matty," she said, flicking my nose. I rolled my eyes. Matty? THat was new. But, strangely enough, I could get used to it. Mels only called me Matty when he wanted something.

"'Night," I said, heading to my own room.

* * *

I was sitting in the "Camera Room," as I called it, chatting with Matsuda over pizza. We were discussing how well Light Yagami would do well under pressure. I was positive that he might feel uncomfortably, but otherwise, keep his cool. Matsuda said he would crack for sure.

"Aww, come on, Matsoo! You know Light-kun better than that! He kept his cool when he heard that his father had a heart attack. Knowing that Kira was now eliminating people opposing him, it took a lot of will power to keep his cool in front of Daddy, even though he was breaking inside, you know he was!" I said, loving that I had tricked Matsuda into listening to his own words.

"True..." he ventured, taking a bite of his slice. "But... what would happen if-"

"Everyone," my dad said from one of the screens on the wall. I put down my slice. "The Shiniga-" he stopped abruptly and his eyes got wider than usual.

"Dad...?" I said, even though he couldn't hear me. The Shiniga... Shinigami? The Shinigami what? What about them? "... Dad...! DAD!" I yelled as I watched the spark leave my father's eyes, I was numb as I watched Light run over to catch his limp body's fall. I couldn't hear anything, couldn't breathe.

The light was drowned in a bright red light, but I didn't notice. A single tear rolled down my face as I watched my world fall apart.

Which way was up? I was falling, I knew that much. I closed my eyes, and something snapped inside of me.

I was indeed standing straight up, I could indeed see, hear, and breathe. I was hyper aware of everything. Including the brief second I saw Light Yagami split a wide, nasty, but quarter of a second long grin. His eyes looked... triumphant?

Something kicked in. The grin was gone as fast as it had appeared, but I saw it. I was angry. At Light, at Shinigami Rem, who had fled with a notebook seconds ago, angry at God.

Angry at Light for relishing my father's death. A sob racked through my body. "Daddy!" I yelled desperately.

Angry at that stupid Shinigami for murdering my father. Another painful sob racked through my chest painfully. "Don't leave!"

Angry at God for allowing this to happen. "You can't leave me again!" my chest was hollow, painful, aching. "You can't leave! DADDY!" Somewhere around there, Matsuda grabbed my wrists to calm me down. When I stoped the blood curdling screams that only he and I could hear, we were in a completely different building. I buried my face in his chest and he hugged me, not sure how to stop the violent shaking and sobbing.

"Daddy..." I whispered.

"Rose," a panic-etched voice said. "Rose, wake up. Rose. Rose, wake up, are you alright?"

I sat bolt upright in the dark, my heart beating erratically. I half expected Matsoo-chan to be there.

It was Matt. He was standing by the bed, bent over to where his hand was on the bed, and as I slowly relaxed, he gently put the tips of his fingers on my shoulder, feather light, as if he were afraid to hurt me.

"I heard you say 'Dad'. You alright?" he asked, worry seeping into his voice. Crap.

"I..." I looked into the jade green eyes that I could see by the light of the window. Could I trust this boy? True, we had been video game buddies since I was nine, but being on the same team and being on the same page are two totally different things. All the same... "I constantly relive the..." what was it, exactly? "The _moment_ he died. Every night." I said. Something about his probing green eyes made me spill out the rest without hesitation.

"They're always the same. I've had that dream so many times since I was ten, I could tell you every minute detail of the room..."I shut up when I realized how pathetic I sounded.

But he didn't look at me like I was psycho; he looked genuinely worried. He moved his hand from my shoulder to my forehead and gently pushed me back into the lying position.

Sitting on the bed now, he removed his hand from my forehead to put it on the bed next to me, so there was a hand on the bed on either side if me. I just warily watched him in case he was really worried about my mental health.

"You're clammy. You _sure _you feel alright?" I just nodded. He put the back of his hand on my cheek amd left it htere. I felt like I was at the school nurse.

"And this happend how often?" he put his hand back on the bed, making a protective "tent" around me.

"Every night." I breathed, not wanting to talk about it.

He frowned. "Rose..." I looked away from his emerald gaze, which was now inches from mine. I closed my eyes and yawned. When I opened them, his was was gone, and so were his arms. _Great, _I thought. _Now I'm hallucinating._ I rolled over and jumped when I saw Matt's face lying on a pillow, yet again, inches from mine. I raised an eyebrow when he smirked.

"Lets see if it comes back," he said, enjoying my obvious discomfort.

"I doubt it will. I only usually have one every night." I stalled. I really didn't like where this was going.

"Rose... Listen. I used to have nightmares all the time about..." he sucked in a breath. "certain people. And if there's one thing I know, it's that holding someone's hand helps. A lot." he said as he twined my fingers with his own. I closed my eyes, trying to assemble my thoughts before I spoke.

"Matt..." I said. "You don't have to do this for me." but I squeezed his hand anyway, hating how much he was right. Holding someone's hand _does_ help with painful thoughts.

"Yes, actually, I do. It's a... self-fulfillung prophecy thing. I'll explain everything later, I promise. But now, sleep." he said, softly. I nodded, letting another yawn slip out, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I watched as her obsidian eyes fluttered closed and her breathing slowed. I began to slowly drift off to the steady pulse I could feel in the hand.

When I woke up, she was still out. She was rolled over to where her head was resting on my shoulder. Looking at the peaceful look on the seventeen year old girl's face, I couldn't help but smile to myself. I shifted to get up without waking her, and only then did I realize our hands were still twined. I gently pulled my fingers out of hers, and sucked in a deep, slow breath when she laid her arm over my chest after I let go of her hand. _Maybe I could stay like this for a while,_ I thought as she gently gripped the collar of my red t-shirt with her fingers. She was so... _warm_. I _loved_ it.

* * *

**A/N When I said minor fluff, I meant **_**minor**_** fluff. Matt didn't mean anything intimate by holding Rose's hand; he was truly trying to console Rose and help her nightmares go away. As he said, he understands what its like to be haunted by memories. **

**review! review! review! :D 0:D**


	11. Stupid

**A/N Can you believe it's only been about a week? A lot of authors post their chapters on intervals of Friday or on the weekends... Well I do in fact have a posting pattern, uh huh. I finish it's up. That's my pattern XD**

**MILESTONE: I went to go see Sugarland: The Incredible Machine live at the BOK Center last night (March 5th, in case this gets posted late) and Jennifer and Kristian were EPIC! I screamed do much I tasted blood, hehe. **

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The Song for This Chapter is: **Brick by Boring Brick (acoustic) **by **Paramore**

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Chapter 11: Stupid

* * *

Stupid. This whole thing was stupid. I've been to school already. I knew more than any kid here, older than me or not. And I certainly knew more than my _target._

Why, oh why did Near believe this blonde airhead was Kira? I knew her mother was Kira before, but JEEZ! Seriously? A fifteen year old Kira? Well, I said the same thing about Rose becoming L at her age when Yagami died... but.. Rose's smarter than your average girl, I gotta give her that. There's _no way_ this idiot was Kira. Absoutely no way. It wasn't logical.

So what, she had a notebook. Was it a Death Note? And even if it was, did she even know how to frikkin' use it? Come on, we could all die in a matter of minutes if she was using it as a diary... I'd rather not dwell on what would happen if she wrote her crush's name down... I shudder at thinking of the Death Note falling into an idiot's hands, but this... Amaia Yagami wasn't an idiot. She was a _moron._

I'd been following her all around school campus in the open, not bothering to follow her in the shadows. Twice she'd said "Hi," once she said "Are you lost? You must be new here. I don't recognize you from the year book." then she put her perfectly manicured, bubble gum pink nail on her chin. "You can tag along until you learn the school, it looks like we've had all the same classes so far," then I gave myself a mental facepalm as she walked away. I wonder if she was just playing dumb because she was used to stalkers...

It was English and Literature class, 6th period, that things went... down hill.

I had to sit by her, because ther were assigned seats, and the rest of them were freaking full. My luck exactly.

We would have been fine if she hadn't decided to strike up a conversation with me. _I _would have been fine if I had ditched when I had the chance.

"Oh, hi," she said. "Small school, huh? Well, from here you just return to your homeroom for the remaining two periods, unless you're in a club. I take creative writing, because my mom wants me to. Are you in a club?" she asked, making it impossible to ignore her.

"Debate," I said flatly.

"Debate? I think debate is boring, but that's just my opinion. If you really find something you like, you should..." she droned on and on and on and on... It got to the point where I tuned her out. Why did she do that? Was it a girl thing? Why did girls find it neccessary to speak to the point of no return? If the world was ending, I'm sure Amaia would be chatting up the person who was pressing the "Self Destruct" button. No kidding.

"You know, you're kind of cute," she said suddenly, stopping her lecture about how she would love to "find her passion".

"Uh..." I looked at her, dumbfounded. Cute? What the hell?

"Alright, class!" the teacher, a short woman with curly brown hair said, jumping into sentence structures.

When she gave us a break and assigned an essay, turning to her desk, the kids broke off in little clumps of talkers. Mai turned to me to open her big mouth again, then the bell rang. I jumped up and pranced out of the room, glad to leave the jabber jaws behind. _Saved by the bell,_ I thought to myself.

The last two hours went peacefully. Then I headed to my lightning blue Corvette. I love rubbing it in, he he. But, lo and behold, guess who was following _me,_ for a change. Curse you, karma!

"I didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier..." she started in. What the... _didn't get a chance? To talk! She's out of it!_

I sighed, leaning up against my car. What did she want? A free ride home? Dinner? I doubted she needed anything for _free,_ Near's told me how the Amane's threw away money. Just because Amaia was a Yagami didn't mean she was any different.

"What's your name?" She simply said. What, no lecture?

Then it sunk in. My name? Crap! "Andrew," I told her cautiously. I flicked on the recorder in my pocket. I hoped she didn't ask for a last name, because my alias only covered a first.

"Oh, that's a nice name. I just wanted to know, because it's awkward to talk when you don't know each other's name. My name is Amaia Yagami," she said holding out her hand, clearly hinting for a last name.

"Well, that's nice. I have to go now, if you don't mind." I said, putting my hand on the car door.

"Okay. See you later, Andy!" she skipped off, and I nearly punched off the rear view mirror. Again with the Andy!

"It's Andrew! Just _Andrew!"_ I called, not undrestanding myself why it got to me like it did. I shook my head and got into the car, fuming. She was so annoying!

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A/N short chappie, I know... but I didn't know just how to end it :P **

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**Here's a preview of Rose's upcoming 18th b-day:**

"Mello, shut up. I'd feel _better_ if I got hit by a truck, so you've got it pretty good over there," I said, waiting for the Tylenol to kick in.

**That's promising, right? XD**


	12. Wake Up

**A/N Yay! I gotses moar reviews :D**

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The Song for This Chapter is: **Use Somebody (Kings of Leon cover)** by **Paramore**

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Chapter 12: Wake Up

The first thing I noticed was that my head was steadily rising and falling, as if my pillow were breathing. Then I felt my fingers gripping on to something, it felt like cloth. Okay... so my pillow was breathing and I was holding on to it for dear life. Yeah, if I thought I was crazy before, I'm positive of it now. I was too scared to open my eyes, for fear of the fluffy pink elephant that I was sure my mind was capable of seeing. Then I noticed something else.

My arm- it had a warm spot. It was just above my elbow. If I was still enough, I could swear it felt like a... Oh, God.

The memories flooded back to me, and I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to die, right there, right now. I had fallen asleep holding his hand. And my hand wasn't holding his at the moment... It was gripping onto the collar of his shirt, although not necessarily for "dear life" as I had thought. Obviously, my "breathing pillow" was his chest. Crap...!

Okay, so I rolled over. And I was holding the collar of his shirt. But the thing that stunned me, literally, to the point where I could barely breathe, was that his hand was gently holding my arm, but lazily, as if he had just laid his arm over his chest and my arm happened to be where his hand fell. But I knew he was awake; he was breathing to fast to be asleep.

I was feeling brave that morning, so I opened my eyes, fluffy elephant or not.

Well, there was no elephant, but there were a pair of emerald green eyes staring back at mine. Those eyes were filled with something I couldn't describe with a thousand thesauruses. Whatever it was, it was warm. I could compare it to... amusement?

"Good morning, dear Sunshine, the Earth says 'Hello'!" Matt smirked and took a Willy Wonka quote and made it his. This made sense, because, at eight thirty, it didn't make sense for him to call me "starshine".

I smirked. "See children? Everything in this room is eatable. Even I'm eatable!" I quoted.

He grinned. "But that, my dear children, is called cannibalism; and that is frowned upon in most societies," he finished. "Ya know, this really seems like a movie script Mels would know by heart," and we both burst out into laughter.

"Speaking of Marshmello, where is he, anyway?" I asked, suddenly self concious. Why, I had no idea. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we were still in the same awkward position as when I woke up. All it took was for Mello to take it the wrong way, and we would never hear the end of it.

Mat seemed to read my thoughts, and chuckled. "He's still sleeping. Most humans tend to sleep in when they don't have work or school.

School. _School._ "Crap! Matt, remind me why I'm an hour late for-"

"We stayed up playing Smash Bros until two thirty. Are you always this forgetful in the morning?" He joked. I sighed, thankful for a good reason to skip. "You know," he continued without an answer, "It _is_ Thursday. You could just stay home tomorrow, too. Say you caught a bug, or something. You could eat a jalapeño to give you a scratchy voice when you call in sick," he suggested, and it was a very tempting offer. Except I hated jalapeño.

"How about lemon? It does the same thing for me," I said, sitting up, cross legged with my hands in my lap. He propped himself up on his elbow.

"Sure," he said. "And throw in a cough for good measure. If lemon does to you what jalapeño does to me, you'd be coughing nonstop for about thirty seconds." He said. "And yes, I've played hooky my fair share of times, so I know what I'm talking about." he said.

I giggled. "One more year..." I said. I just had to finish eleventh grade, then I would be free to go on to twelfth grade and graduation.

"Yeah... Then we could..." he didn't finish.

"Matt, we could _what?_" I asked nervously.

"Slip of tongue. I thought you were referring to your birthday," he said.

"...?"

"Mels and I have something... planned for you, that's really fun for most teens that are 'of age'. You know, like a night out that's well needed. I can't tell you all the details, of course, so forget I said anything." he said, trying hard to hide his amusement. He was failing miserably.

"Matt..." I was suddenly overwhelmed. I closed my eyes. "Thank... you... For everything." I looked down, not wanting him to see that my eyes were watering.

"Hey, don't be that way..." he brushed my bangs out of my face to see my eyes, and pulled in a breath when he saw my eyes shimmering with water. "Did I... say something? Or do something?" he pulled his hand back and scratched the back of his head.

I shook my head looking down again. "No, it's not... well, yes, actually, you _did_ do something, but not wrong. I've just never... had anybody to talk to like this except, well... except Matsoo-chan, but he's like a much bigger brother to me. With you... it's strange, because..." Why was it so hard to explain? God, I wish we could just read each other's minds already.

"Because...?" he prodded. His eyes were puzzled; he was trying to understand at least.

"I have... mixed emotions. I guess I'm saying that it's just really different to have a best friend I can talk to, whenever. You know?" The clouded look in his expression lifted a little, but still remained nonetheless.

"No, I'm sorry. I don't understand." I looked down at my hands, thinking of how to word this.

"Matt... What I'm saying is... Matsoo was like my big brother. We would play, race, eat together, and talk together. We're the same, only... Matt, you're not like my... brother. Not side-by-side, like siblings, we're looking straight at each other... like..."

"Like what?" He tried to help.

"Like... I don't know what. I've honestly never had a best friend apart from Mai and Matsuda, but Mai's a girl, and Matsuda was about a decade older than me, so they don't count." I said, trying to figure it out myself.

"What, girls don't count now?" He tried to lighten the mood. "Come on," he said standing up. "Mels's still sleepin'... You can tell me over a bowl of cereal." I smiled and got up, but I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder, so that I was standing face-to-face with Matt.

"You're right," he said, "this _is_ more comfortable than merely standing side-by-side." he smirked. "Come on, bed-head." he said before turning out the door.

I rolled my eyes. "Wait up, red-head," I poked his back. He turned around and waited for me to pass him, so I was in front.

"Ladies first," he said.

We were about halfway down the hall when he pulled on me to make me stop. I turned to him, and I was about to ask him a question when he backed me against a wall and grabbed my wrists, gently pinning them to my sides. I could break free if I wanted to, but I wasn't sure I wanted to.

"Matt?" I asked.

"Tell me... what you meant. You said I'm not like your brother, yet we're just friends, but close enough to confide in. And when you said you didn't know what to compare me to... you sounded... like you were in pain." Shoot. I did? "I don't like the thought that I'm... hurting you, or anybody for that matter. I don't want our 'face-to-face' to turn into 'back-to-back', you understand?" Now it was my turn to be confused.

"Matt...?" What was up with him? He was never so serious. "Matt, that would... never... happen..."

"There you go again! The hesitations... It's like you either can't or don't want to talk to me. What's up Rose?" The grip on my wrists was getting a little bit tighter with his anxiety.

"I'm just... confused, that's all. I can, and I do want to talk to you. And I'm not in pain, either. Although, it stings a little to think we're going to be 'back-to-back'. So we're not, 'kay?" I stared at him. His hands moved up my arm, he held me at a distance where he could look at my face properly, then pulled me in for a hug.

"I hope not," he said. "Because I don't want to lose this," he indicated the hug by tightening his arms.

I awkwardly put my arms around him. "Lose what, Matt...?" I whispered.

He pulled away and looked at me. This was one of the rare times he could be seen without his goggles, and his bright green eyes burned into mine.

"Rose..." his eyes searched mine. "I need a best friend, Rose. Not like Mels, Rose, he won't understand." His voice was very close to breaking, he was whispering so low. His scorching eyes weren't filled with tears, but with sincerity, as if he were something he was trying to convey, but I couldn't grasp it. It was the way he worded that sentence that made me understand completely.

People like siblings were exactly like that- your siblings. You could confide in them to a point, but like any brother or sister, you would want to hide things from them. You would feel that they might feel ashamed of your actions, so you leave it unsaid. Sometimes, it took the positive word from an outsider looking in to cheer you up. Like a reassuring comment on YouTube from somebody you don't know. Or a best friend that wasn't like your sibling, exactly. Matt was desperate; he was worried Mello would be disappointed in him, for whatever reason I couldn't fathom, and he knows I could never walk away from him and Mello.

I nodded and knocked my forehead with his, to better see his eyes through his bangs. "I get it. You're conflicted, too. We're the same," I said, and his eyes widened as he realized that I understood perfectly. He blinked, and leaned forward a little more. My breath hitched.

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I stretched and stared up at the ceiling. I rolled over to go back to sleep, but the sun was coming through the window, and I couldn't sleep anyway. Sighing, I got up, getting dressed in the usual leathers.

I opened the door, and nearly froze in my tracks. Matt and Rose were in the hall way, still pajama-clad, and Matt had Rose practically pinned to the wall, his hands gently holding her upper arms. There was a look of mingled fear and excitement in Rose's eyes at the closeness of Matt's proximity; Rose's back was flat against the wall, and they were pressed against each other as if they were hugging seconds before. It almost looked like they were having a 'moment'. Or Matt just got really brave and backed her against the wall for no apparent reason.

"You're conflicted, too. We're the same," The raven haired girl said, knocking foreheads with the red-headed gamer. Matt stiffened with shock, for whatever reason. He blinked, and, with much hesitation, leaned forward. Well, closer than they were already. I wanted to keep watching, to see what Matt was thinking in that screwed up mind of his, but my nose was tickling. I didn't have time to duck into my room before-

They both looked up at my sneeze, Rose blushing a violent scarlet red, Matt looking a mixture of thoughtfulness and disgruntlement. I would feel uncomfortably, too- they didn't know how long I was standing there.

"I only heard the "we're the same' part," I assured them, raising my hands in front of me. I was probably blushing myself, for having interrupted the moment the way I did. "It's not like I eavesdrop or anything. I got up because I was hungry." My stomach growled as if in agreement.

Rose piped up. "Uh, I could make breakfast," she said. "Do omelets sound good to you guys?" she said as Matt released her arms.

"Omelets sound great," I said. Even though it's been a long time since I've really eaten real food, Matt kept the fridge stocked for himself, so...

"Okay," she said cheerily. She gave Matt a meaningful look, and he followed her to the kitchen. I didn't see how I would be of any help with a skillet, so I wandered to the living room to watch TV.

My stomach growled as I heard eggs frying in the pan, and Matt helped Rose make French toast and omelets. Well, he knew how to cook. I never ate so he just never bothered with a big meal.

"Marshmello," Rose called. "Come and get it while it's still hot!" I got up and headed into the kitchen.

On the bar, there was a plate full of eggs and a plate of toast. There was a bowl of sugar, and the salt and pepper were out.

"Help yourself, Rose said pleasantly as she sugared her French toast. Matt was peppering his egg.

I ended up with two eggs and a piece of toast. We all ate in the living room, watching TV. Nothing in particular, just flipped through the channels. I was on the couch, Matt and Rose cross legged on the floor in front of it, plates in their laps. Their shoulders were barely brushing, but every time they did brush against each other, they would both quickly take another bite so they didn't have to say anything. What exactly were they talking about?

When Rose took our plates into the kitchen, I couldn't help noticing the glance Matt threw towards me out of the corner of his eye. I couldn't be sure, but he looked almost... guilty. I sat up straight. What _were_ they talking about?

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**A/N French Toast, fluffy stuff, and a Mello POV. A lot happened in chappie 12 XD**

**Longest chapter… This took 8 pages of Microsoft Word, I'm a little disappointed at how slow the "breakfast scene" was going. 2,410 words in all! YAY!**

**UPDATE: In Mello's POV... I accidentally typed "Jugging" instead of "Hugging"... it's fixed now, just wanted to clear it up! ^^**


	13. Conflicts

**A/N sorry if you got a double-alert for the last chappie… it wouldn't post… :/**

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**Let us all raise a candle for the 1000+ people who died today in the tsunami that hit Japan. God bless their souls!**

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**The Song for This Chapter is: Check Yes Juliet** by **We the Kings**

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Chapter 13: Conflicts

After breakfast, I wandered back to my room. It was too awkward when Matt was being all… depressed. I mean, what was up? Usually he was the one telling _me_ to stop moping around. But now… Now he just seemed… down. Like his spirit was broken or something. Which brought me back to my nagging question; _what were they discussing in the hall? _

If it was personal, which it probably was, then I didn't really need to know. I had been prepared to completely forget all about it. But that look Matt shot me… It pushed me.

Could they have talking about me? That really would explain the guilty look. But why did he have Rose pressed up against the wall? Did he think… Was the guilty look because he thought I would be _jealous_ that he found another friend?

Rose was as much Matt's friend as she was mine, maybe a little more to him, being as I never really "hung out" as kids. I never was one for video games. Now that I mention it, Rose wasn't either until Matt introduced her to the PlayStation.

But jealous? I wouldn't be jealous. Jealousy wasn't my thing. So what, Matt found himself a friend. Matt didn't get jealous when I hung around the Mafia. Well, that was probably because he knew I'd get assassinated if I tried to leave…

This was so… _confusing!_ This morning, it looked like they were about to… well, it really looked like Matt was going to kiss Rose. And by the way Rose was breathing, it didn't look like she was going to pull away. But why the face he pulled when Rose took our plates? Was it really guilt? Was it regret? Regret for what?

I decided not to think too much about it. I was, after all, probably thinking too far into things.

I lay down on my bed and thought, just thought. Maybe it was the French toast, but I felt very warm, and that made me feel kind of happy, to an extent. It was better than freezing in the air around here.

I yawned and stretched yet again, but couldn't fall back to sleep. Finding it hopeless, I wandered into the living room.

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I felt terrible. I felt almost as if I had betrayed Mello, for not confiding in him. But I felt worse for what almost happened with Rose.

I felt almost grateful to Mello, because if he hadn't been there, I would have more than likely kissed her. That wasn't a bad thing at the moment, but I could have easily turned the "face to face" scenario that Rose had painted into a "back to back", just as I feared.

I wasn't thinking clearly; if I had kissed her, Rose might have pulled back. Then what?

The things I had said were true, 100% of it. I did need a best friend; there were just things I just couldn't tell Mels. And the fact that she had understood, perfectly, it overwhelmed me. She understood. She knew what it was like.

"I get it," she had said. "You're conflicted, too." That alone surprised me. What really pushed me to my limit was when she said "We're the same."

I lost it. I completely blew it. If anything, it would be awkward for us to just be friends.

Yet here she sat, right next to me, on the couch. I didn't get it. Was she not freaked out by what just happened? I was totally numb. There was no way she was just "unfazed" by what I had- or almost- just pulled on her. She was even acting normal, sort of. She twitched her eye when she saw _The Notebook_ on the on-screen guide for the TV.

"I just got to see that… But no, the moment I finally find it on DVD, it _has _to come out on the movie channels," she huffed, folding her arms and leaning against my arm. I couldn't help but smile when I saw how puppy-ish she looked, in full pout mode, her bangs gently falling over her eyes.

Rolling my eyes, I nudged her arm. "At least you can get it on recording, instead of having to borrow it from Amaia," I reminded her. "It doesn't come on 'til four; you can set it up if you want."

She looked up at me and smirked. "Who says I have to borrow it from Mai-Mai?" she asked. "I bought a copy of my own," she beamed.

I thawed after a thirty second unofficial staring contest. She won, and we both laughed. It was strange, how easy we could just… be. We were both considered the politically correct term for a 'loner', and could probably find entertainment in an anthill. If we were in the same room, it would probably go from an awkward 'hi' to escalating into a full out conversation, be it a debate about jeans or slacks, or randomly hopping from subject to subject.

I reached up to adjust my goggles when I realized I wasn't wearing them. Odd. I hadn't noticed.

"Ah, Matt, you may be a Ginger, but you're _our_ Ginger," said Mello, walking into the living room at that moment.

"Ginger?" I asked.

"Yes, Ginger," Rose said. "You know, pale skin, red hair, green eyes. The only thing that isn't visible on your face is freckles."

"And I'm pretty sure you have those. You know, under your mop," Mello grinned, and sat on the couch between Rose and me. I don't know why, but I got uber annoyed at this. Not the mop joke, the place where he sat. Mega annoyed. Super ticked off.

"Look who's talking, Blondie," Rose ruffled his hair and Mello playfully hugged her. Rose gave him a light punch on the arm, which was returned by Mello blowing his bangs out of his face and tackling her, tickling her just under the ribs, her main tickle-spot. They looked like they were truly related. I grinned. As long as his hands didn't linger on her arms longer than enough to turn her around to tickle her, just like the old rough-housing days back at Wammy's, I was okay.

What was I _thinking?_ The way I was watching what Mello did, as if I could say something about it if I didn't like it, you'd think I was her father or something. Or a really, really possessive boyfriend. I chased _that_ thought away too. Honestly, I was going nowhere with this. And _what exactly _would I do if I didn't like what happens?

"Matt!" Rose said between giggles. "Help me get revenge!" She managed to twist away from Mels long enough to grab me by the collar of my shirt. I grinned. 'Revenge' was our code word back in Wammy's Days for "Grab him here, and I'll poke him here".

I grabbed Mello by the arms, pinning them behind his back, and Rose continuously poked his stomach, making him laugh his throaty, deep laugh so much that it rendered him too weak to pull his wrists out of my death drip.

This went on for a while, until finally Mello broke free and tackled me. Rose leaned against the wall with a bored expression on her face.

Mels and I wrestled on the floor like bear cubs. It didn't take long before he was sitting on my back with both my wrists in one of his hands, his other hand pulling my head back as I tried to break free, laughing his head off. Only did he let up when Rose poked Mello in the shoulder.

"Traitor!" I whined jokingly. She blinked at me, and a wicked smile crept across her face. Pulling a hair tie off her wrist, she knelt down. I gulped.

"Mels, can I have a sandwich? Matty here seems to be a bit tied up at the moment," she giggled and she pulled it into what I assumed to be a bow. I don't have eyes behind my head, but it was almost as tight as Mello's grip.

"Hmm…" Mello said, getting up. "I suck at sandwiches, but I can show you something else. It's pretty cool. Tastes good, too."

He headed off to the kitchen. I lifted my head up, a defiant smirk on my face. I was a pretty pathetic sight. I didn't have my arms for balance, so I couldn't shift to even stand up.

"Hey, get back here!" I called. "I'm not through with you ye-"

"Matt, give it a break. He can crush you if he tried," Rose called from the kitchen. "But these s'mores are EPIC!" she said.

I heard Mello's "uh-huh" of approval. I could almost see him crossing his arms, giving his toothy grin and closing his eyes. I groaned.

"When can I get out?" I asked, pitifully trying to roll over. I failed.

"When we get tired of watching you do the worm," Rose said, coming into the living room. She sat down by me, and popped a marshmallow with a melted chocolate square in my mouth. I chewed, and made a mental note at the grin she was making. I didn't miss the fact that she left her finger on my lips, either.

Mello came in and sat by me, too. They both laid their heads on my back, using it as a pillow to watch TV. I sighed, and tried to ignore the way Mels kept looking between me and Rose. We talked during the commercials

At one point in the program, Mello and I wouldn't shut up about magical unicorns. Rose got up, returning with an apple, which she tactically shoved into my mouth. She shot Mels a death glare that said "Don't make the assumption that just because you're not tied up, I won't do the same to you," all over it. He smirked at me, and they both lay down against my back again. I felt like an abused kitty.

When we finished watching "Two and a Half Men", Mello got up and stretched.

"Well, I'd better head off to bed… I'm tired," he noted, mainly to himself.

Rose nodded and plucked the apple from my mouth, taking a bite out of the side that wasn't in my mouth. "Yep," she declared. "I'm turning in, too," she released the ribbon holding my arms together. It took a while for me to be able to bend my fingers. Going a whole day without moving didn't do you a lot of favors.

I warily watched the two as I stood up. They both looked beat. Oh, yes, it must be _exhausting_ to team up on the Ginger, huh? Mello rolled his eyes at my exaggerated expression and headed off to his bedroom, closing the door.

Rose headed off to the bathroom, more than likely to change into some PJ's. I however, being tied up, couldn't find the chance to get _out_ of mine, so I was already set.

The look of shock on her face as she walked in and found me sitting cross-legged on her bed, hand resting on my fist, said it all; _What the hell are you doing in here?_ Yep. Even though Rose didn't like to say words like "hell", her facial expression was basically yelling it.

"You said you only have one nightmare a night; therefore I couldn't be sure if I had a positive effect. If I didn't make any difference, you're rid of me. I'm honestly doing this for my own curiosity, it'll kill me if I never find out the truth," I explained. Besides, it wasn't as if she would openly say 'no'. I hated taking advantage of that, but it was truly the best way to just avoid the whole in-depth explanation that even I truly couldn't explain myself.

Her nose twitched, and she looked down, blushing. "Oh, yeah, um…" she rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.

"You thought I would forget, didn't you?" I asked wryly. She would obviously have to get used to the prospect of somebody caring about her. Or, at least to the point where a friend would be willing to stay up with her until she fell asleep, to ensure she wasn't haunted by dark memories…

She stared at me with a warm glow in her eyes, her head tilted slightly. Smiling to herself, she shook her head and looked down. She looked up at me again and opened her mouth to say something, but instead stifled a chuckle and, shaking her head again, came over to sit by me, and I noticed a comb was in her hand.

"I haven't even had time to comb my hair before bed, see?" She waved it in front of my face playfully. I grabbed it in midair. She raised an eyebrow as I plucked it from her hand.

"I need to keep my hands busy when I think…" I explained, trying to keep my mind off the shadows that occasionally haunted my own nights since Wammy's.

She put her hands in her lap and looked directly into my eyes. I tried not to look like I was looking through her, and put a grin on my face that I was positive looked fake.

I could actually see that she was considering pouting to get her comb back. She sighed and, rolling her eyes, shifted to where her back was facing mine. I gently pulled the comb through her hair, surprised at how silky it felt in my fingers.

Honestly, I didn't have to keep my hands busy when I thought. It was a distraction, much like my video games. I couldn't think while I was doing something. I realized that I hadn't touched my DS once since Rose moved in, aside from playing one-on-one with her until 2:30 AM.

I idly pulled the comb through her now tangle-free hair. When it was flattened out with a comb, it reached her waist. Glad for the distraction, I pulled it into a bundle with my hands.

"Jeez, how do you get a ponytail around this?" I asked, my fingers twiddling with the ends of a few strands. She shrugged.

"I braid it, usually," she said, not appearing to find my interest in hair the slightest bit strange. "I'm thinking about getting it cut."

"What? No!" I said, dropping the bundle of hair I had gathered. "It must have taken your whole life to grow this out the way it is…" I quickly tried to cover up my shock. But she wouldn't look the same with short hair. I was caught off guard, is all.

"I know, I know, that's what mom says, all the time. But not _that_ short, I mean, I'm going to keep it below my shoulder blades." She said. I relaxed a little. If she was going to get a super short cut, I'm positive it would take four years to get used to.

I handed her the comb, willing to drop the very awkward subject of hair, and she set it on the nightstand before pulling the sheets back. I awkwardly lay down next to her and we held each other's hands, much like the night before. She reached over and turned off the lamp, and lay her head down on the pillow. I heard her sigh and she absent mindedly traced my knuckles with her thumb. I think we both fell asleep at the same time.

I was submitted into a deep and dreamless sleep, and I loved every second of the warm, golden color that swam beneath my eyelids as I slept.

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**A/N: This took forever to write… Woot! It's finished ^^ Also, there's a picture of Rose and Matt on my DeviantART; link on my profile :D You'll also find a drawing of our dearest Andy, and my anime interpretation of Mommy and I ;D**

**Speaking of Deviants, check out Dawnleapord's drawing of Rose! It's awesome! I'm honored that somebody would want to draw one of my OC's.. hehe**

**Thanx for the reviews, Deepoblivion99, Serpintine Sarracenia, Skylarkz, dawnleapord, and last but certainly not least, dawn for the reviews! :D**


	14. Take Care

**A/N: Okayz DeepOblivion99 keeps insisting that I put a poll up on whether or not Matt should plan to propose in the ****near future****. I'm not that sure that my readers would like, being so soon in the fanfic... Moony has been known to be… impulsive in the past… O.O **

**Let me know if the poll is a good idea! And don't tell us what u voted! XD**

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Chapter 14: Take Care

I woke up in the dark and immediately wondered where I was at. It was the first time in forever that I hadn't woken up crying. Why…?

I sat up, reaching up to brush the bangs out of my eyes, when I realized there was another hand in mine. That hand belonged to a dear friend of mine, and I wasn't looking forward to disturbing his peaceful sleep. I smiled to myself, and I knew _exactly_ why my nightmare hadn't come back. Lying back down, I listened to Matt's steady breathing.

It wasn't long before I was humming in a whisper to myself. It was a tune my mom had sang to me as a kid, back in Tokyo. I knew it well.

"Button up your overcoat…" I looked at our hands, whispering to myself. "When the wind is free…" I never realized until now how much I missed mom. "Take good care of yourself…" I couldn't bring myself to say the last four words, so I just hummed them. I didn't want to find some truth in them, didn't want me to realize the truth I was silently telling myself all along. Matt's steady breathing seemed to change, minutely, barely detectible.

"Eat an apple every day," I whispered, thinking of the apple I had shoved into his mouth earlier, grinning. "Get to bed by three…" If 3:00 AM counted, he was okay, I thought wryly. How had my thoughts shifted to Matt? "Take good…" my voice was suddenly shaking. "Care of yourself…" I was warring with myself on whether or not to whisper the last four words yet again when I heard a small whisper, so small I could barely hear it.

"You belong to me," I looked up from our hands, up at the red headed gamer. He was looking at our hands, too, as if they were somehow keeping him from blushing as bright as I was at this moment.

But I still couldn't keep the smile, however so small, off my face. He looked up at me, and, though it was hard to see in nothing but the window light, his eyes burned into mine. I just silently laid my head on his shoulder and fell asleep with him once more.

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**A/N short chappie, I know, but I kind of suffer from writer's block at the moment. Any spark of inspiration was a blessing XD 500 words, at least… meh**

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**Also, 20****th**** reviewer gets a cookie and an optional spoiler! (Moony, you don't count, your my beta, u already know everything ^^ But you can keep the cookie)**


	15. Snow

**A/N: Yeah, another chappie. I get bored on weekends, and unlike normal ppl, I don't really have a life. So… Yeah. I let it all out through my OC's. Hehehe :P**

**(Moony got a cookie, but not the spoiler… betas don't get surprises XD**

**Dawnleapord got both ^^)**

**Yes, I time skipped to January 2nd. Deal with it.**

**The Song for this Chapter is: Waiting **by **Greenday**

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Chapter 15: Snow

Amaia Yagami had just finished writing a name in the Death Note.

"Mai-Mai's tired of the whole heart-attack gig. It gets boring after a while," she said, writing 'killed by gang within month' and underlining it. Sighing and putting away the black notebook, she turned to her computer. Signing in under 'Yamaia', she boredly surfed YouTube for something new to watch.

* * *

"Alright, alright, I know it's early, but your present comes on the 16th, and so I'm giving this to you now," I said, plopping the little envelope in front of her cereal bowl. She raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, what the hell, Mello? We weren't supposed to give this to her until the night before!" Matt said, nearly dropping his unlit cigarette.

"I have suspense issues," I said, shrugging. He shook his head and lit his cigarette, taking a long drag. "And not in the kitchen!" I said irritably. He grinned and headed off to the living room. I hated those rolled up sticks of death. He was basically claiming suicide by smoking.

"Okay, I give. What is it?" she said, poking a raisin with her spoon.

"Open iiiit!" Matt said, unable to come into the kitchen because of the invisible boundary line his smoking problem forced me to draw. Rolling her eyes, she slipped a finger under the flap.

I gave a satisfactory smile as her eyes roved over the ticket. "Greenday?" she said, looking up. "Live? In concert? No way!" her eyes were wider than ever, if that was possible. Matt, obviously abandoning his smoke (or he already finished it), came in and grinned his wide, feline smile.

"Yep. And we've got front row seats," he declared. Greenday was Rose's favorite band of all time, and Matt and I knew it.

"God… this must have cost… a lot of money…" she was still holding the ticket in her hands. Smiling her widest smile, she sat it down on the counter and pulled us both in for a hug. I, being the tallest, had to almost bend over to return the favor.

"Thank you… so much…" She said, beaming. "You didn't have to. We could've caught the recorded version on TV, you know," but she was still practically bouncing. Her ponytail was quivering.

"Aw, where's the fun in _that?"_ Matt asked, leaning up against the counter. I looked at him, and could tell he was just as happy as I was. Greenday _was_ a pretty big deal, after all. We all loved them.

"None, I guess," Rose said. "Oh, thank you! I don't know how to thank you enough…"

"Don't worry," I said, cutting her off. "It's a birthday gift. Nothing in return."

"Well, maybe _one _thing," Matt said. I raised my eyebrow. "Smile," He said simply.

"Good enough for me," I agreed. "And no pouting," I added.

"That works," She finished off her raisin bran and put the bowl in the sink. She walked into the living room, where we all sat down to talk about the concert. Well, Matt and I talked, and we both laughed as we were leaving out details to confuse her.

Suddenly, Rose looked toward the window. "It's snowing!" she exclaimed. We all got up to see the year's first snowfall. We just stood there, watching the powder coat everything. I looked at the other two out of the corner of my eye just in time to see the goggled gamer reach out to grab Rose's hand, secretively, as if I weren't meant to see it. So I pretended I didn't, turning to sit back down.

"It'd be really cool if it snowed on your birthday, Rose," I commented, pulling out a chocolate bar.

"Mmm, yeah it would!" she said, leaving the window. "Thank you!" she plucked the chocolate from my hand before I took a bite. I blinked, staring at where it used to be.

"Meh," I whimpered. Matt was looking at me with mingled amusement and warning. Something about it said "Oh yes, you _want_ to smack her. But if you do, I'll murder you." Jeez, like I would do that…

Rose laughed. "Mine, now," but still tossed it back to me. I held it protectively.

"Wow, Mels," Mat grinned. "You look like you just got smacked!"

"I'd like to see how you'd react if I hid your cigarettes!" I smirked.

"Like any other person with a brain; I'd buy more," he grinned triumphantly. He had me there.

"Hey, Matt," Rose spoke up. "Can you take me to the store? I want to get something to try out, you know, like a new recipe?" Uh-oh. Had Matt neglected to tell her?

The look on his face told me right away. Yes, yes he did.

* * *

"Uh… Rose?" I started. Mello shot me a dagger glare. "See… the thing is… There's kind of a search warrant out for you right now, so…" I fail.

She tilted her head, confused. Then, understanding filled her eyes, followed by a brief flicker of annoyance before it was replaced by fear. "Search warrant? As in, juvenile hall search warrant?"

"No, Rose," I said firmly. "Missing persons search warrant."


	16. Home

**A/N: I think Matty's last statement came as a bit of a shock, no?**

The chappie song was a tricky one.. I picked this one because I liked the words.. Partially hating the rap part.. -_-

**The Song For This Chapter is: I'm Coming Home **by** J. Cole**

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Chapter 16: Home

"… Missing persons?" my voice jumped an octave.

"…" they were both silent, either letting it sink in or they didn't know what to say.

I sat down on the couch beside Mello and Matt followed suit. "Why?"

They couldn't ignore a direct question like that. Mello answered, mainly because he was better with words. "Because your mother doesn't know we even exist, or shouldn't know, anyway."

"And why is that?" I was trying hard to understand, but it was kind of hard when you heard your mom thought you had dropped off the face of the planet.

This time Matt spoke up. "Well, if you knew that your kid was living with an ex-mafia member and a chain smoking gamer, how would you react?"

"Knowing it's you guys, I'd probably feel safer!" I said.

"But she doesn't know us, Rose," Said Matt quietly. Now mom thinks I'm dead. Great.

"Then… If I can't even go shopping, why are you taking me to a concert?" I asked.

They looked at each other. "Well…" Matt said. "It'll be dark. And you said yourself that you wanted to cut your hair."

For the past couple months, we've decided it would be best if I just skipped school entirely; it's not as if I could go to school when I turned up missing from my apartment mom let me get in the states after Mai moved here.

Mello looked between us. "She wants to cut her hair?" Why must everyone criticize my wanting short hair? Matt shrugged.

"Okay," I said, "okay. I'll change my hair. I'll cut it to my shoulders and dye it red. Chances are, if I can get a hold of some green contacts, I'll look like Matt's little sister!" I said sarcastically, but still smiling. Matt grinned darkly as he thought of the conversation I knew I had reminded him of.

"I don't think…" Mat started, but Mello cut him off.

"What, Matt? She's right, you know. You both have pale skin, you both have high cheekbones. Even now, you could pass as relatives!" he looked back and forth between us.

"Actually, I was going to say 'I don't think she should cut her hair', but no, you always assume things rashly before you speak," he said, a smile on his face. "I'm hurt. To think, Mello, our Marshmello, would think that I would say something so inconsiderate! Honestly, Mels…" We both ignored his rambling. He did this every so often, when he was trying to lighten the mood. It worked considerably well.

"Do you think it's a good idea, Mello?" I asked.

"Mmm hmm." He responded around his chocolate bar, which he was now thoughtfully holding in his mouth. "But does Matt?" we both looked at the goggled gamer who had given up his speech.

"What?" he said.

"Are you okay with me turning into a Matty Look-a-like?" I teased. He grinned.

"Okay? You've got to be kidding. It would be awesome having a twin. The only thing you need is a pair of pilot goggles…" he put a gloved hand to his chin and thought. Well, that solved it.

"But either way, she can't stay with us forever," Mello said. Matt, who was now pacing in front of us, stopped and looked at Mello as if he had just spoken a foreign language.

"Whaddaya mean, 'can't stay'? She can't go home… it'd be too strange. It's been almost half a year, what's she gonna say? 'Oh, yeah, I was kidnapped, but they didn't hurt me and let me go'?" he was staring at the blonde incredulously.

"Matt… We've been over this. It'd be easier for her… and on her family… if she returned home." The finality in Mello's voice was a force to be reckoned with.

It happened so fast, I almost didn't believe it. Mello, whose eyes were wide with shock, slowly turned to Matt.

"Matt… I'm going… to pretend… that didn't happen…" His hands were clenching. Matt was rubbing his knuckles, as if Mello's jaw had hurt his hand more than his hand had hurt Mello's jaw.

"She doesn't need to go anywhere," Matt said quietly. It was so cold, so menacing… I hadn't seen this side of him. Why did he get so worked up?

"Matt…" I could see it was physically hard for Mello not to lose his temper.

"Mels…" I warned. "Calm… Down…" If my whisper sounded as scared as I felt, which it did, it was probably jumping all over the place. It broke on the word 'down'.

"You know it's true!" Mello was begging for Matt to dig his grave, I knew it. He was looking matt in the eye, his chin defiantly raised. Matt lost it.

"_No_ it's _not!"_ he grabbed Mello by the collar of his shirt and Mello retaliated by giving Matt a punch in the gut. I stood up, not wanting to get too close to the fighting boys. I'd seen them playfight; that was nothing compared to this.

Matt now had Mello backed up against a wall. I put my hand over my eyes when one of Mello's punches sent Matt crashing into the coffee table. When I looked up, Matt had gotten to his feet again and the boys were shoving each other. They were basically headbutting. I didn't know fighting terms, so I couldn't say for sure. Their arms were locked together and they were pushing against each other. I gnawed my lip as they both screamed profanities, their mouths never seeming to stop yelling.

"Idiot!" "Jerk!" "Ass-hole!" were a few of the many words I had heard. I'd rather not list some of their more choice words. Mello looked like he was going to murder somebody, until Matt said "You want her to go home, I don't, why don't we just ask her what _she_ wants for a change? I'm tired of you pushing people around, Mels! Sick of it!"

The fire in Mello's eyes died. They broke apart, and Matt wiped his bloody nose. My stomach did a nervous little flip as they both turned to me. After what I had just seen, and the anger emanating from them both still, my subconscious mind was telling me to run. It was the fact that they both looked so dangerous… It reminded me of a group of kids ganging up on me back at school. Of course that was to get the ball back, but this had a similar effect. Fear.

I forced myself to calm down and sit on the couch. I closed my eyes to think of how I would answer the fuming boys. It wasn't as if they were fuming at me, but I felt that at the state they were in, they could both snap easily. I had to be considerate of this.

"Mello… You said you wanted me to go home," I said, opening my eyes. Matt turned around and crossed his arms, looking at nothing in particular. "I agree that home is where we all belong. You know how they always say 'home is where the heart is'? Well, that's completely true. Home _is_ where the heart is. And that's where I want to be. Home. That's why I'm staying."

Matt looked up, confusion in his eyes. "But you just said you wanted to go home…?"

I patted the couch beside me, waiting for him to sit down. When he did, I got up to get a wet washcloth from the kitchen.

When I returned, I sat next to Matt and brushed the bangs out of his face, tending to a bleeding cut just above his eyebrow.

"Silly Matt," I said. "I am home."

* * *

**A/N WOW that took forever to write... It was so hard to imagine an angry Matt… So I decided to make him the kind of person who fights smart, and strategically, unlike a certain hot headed blonde... O.O**


	17. Resolution

**A/N Ah, Spring Break. It's so FUN! XD (Even though it's freezing outside…. Oklahoma just does not want to cooperate .)**

**There's a lot of excitement that's going to go down in the next couple of chappies... Like... A LOT… DeepOblivion99 already caught a connection between the beginning of chapter 15 and certain events… Dang, you guys are smart -_-" Catching on too fast xD**

**MOONY YOU TELL THEM AND I WILL MURDER YOU. Just sayin'.**

**The song for this chapter is: You're a Wolf **by** Seawolf**

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Chapter 17: Resolution

I just stared. Rose had just said she wanted to return home, and then said that she wanted to stay. I threw Matt an incredulous look as she walked into the kitchen. He was just as perplexed. Fight forgotten, we silently tried to figure out why she wanted to stay away from her family.

When she returned, she had a damp washcloth. I watched as she brushed his bangs out of his eyes, and brought the cloth to a small cut above his eye. I grimaced. _Did I do that?_ It was hard to tell if it was from a punch or from basically eating the coffee table…

Well, I had _tried_ not to give him any scars. At least this didn't look like it would stay.

"Silly Matt," she said, oh so quietly, "I am home." I watched as Matt's eyes widened with shock, much like my own. Somehow, his goggles ended up on the ground.

"But…" he said.

"What… What about your family… Your mom, your friends…" I said. This girl would not throw her life away to live with two people who should be dead. It was bad enough that she had been 'missing' for a half year. Her mother only now got brave enough to issue an Amber Alert. Perfect timing, too. We had just gotten back from visiting Tokyo not too long ago. Of course, Rose hadn't visited her mother. Her excuse was 'it would make it too hard to leave', which was understandable. I had no idea she meant it literally. If her mother saw her out of the blue, she would never let Rose leave. She _did_ think Rose was dead, after all.

"Mels, hush." She said, drilling me with her onyx tinted eyes. "It's okay. I don't _want_ to go back. In truth, I owe Near a ton of favors by having me stay with you guys. I've realized a ton of things, but one that I know for sure is this; you guys are my family now. Mom will be okay; she'll cry for a while, sure, but she'll get over it. And one day, maybe when this whole Kira thing is over, maybe it would be safe to tell her. I'm not leaving," she stated simply, looking between us. "You'd have to drag me out if you want me gone. Now come here, your cheek is bleeding," she said, as if it were normal conversation. Matt was looking at her as if she had just pulled him out of a shark tank. I was happy, too; she had basically said we were more important than her family. That we _were_ family. That alone should make anybody happy.

I sat by her as she pressed the cool rag on my bleeding cheek. It felt nice against my scar; so contradictory to the flames that had caused it.

"So, what you're saying," Matt said quietly, "is that you'd rather live with us, two trouble making boys who live alone, than your mom, the stable, caring person who can afford to keep you fed with a roof over your head?" there was no mistaking it; he was as happy as I was that she chose a life on the edge.

She looked at him for a moment, trying to think of what to say. "Yes," she finally said. "That's exactly what I'm saying." She frowned. "But why'd you get so… worked up?" she asked him. He looked away.

"Like I said; I'm tired of how Mello thinks he can make decisions on his own. I get it, it's a control thing with him, but we live under the same roof, and there comes a time when it gets to be too much." He said flatly. I thought there was more to it, but there was no use in pressing it further. He never reacted like that when he didn't like something; he has the 'I don't care about the world' attitude. Yeah, sometimes we fought, but it was never _that bad. _Usually we just raised our voices until we got too tired of the whole "defensive" stance. Then we went to go sulk in our rooms. Childish, I know, but that's pretty much it. We never… _never_ had a full out fistfight. So I knew I struck a chord with him.

* * *

This whole thing was so… screwed up. Here we were, sitting on the couch, Rose quickly and effectively cleaning our scrapes and bruises, as she told us how she wanted to give everything up to live with me and Mels. Was she insane? What made her think we could keep her safer than her own mother? Truth be told, we probably could, against most offenders. But there had to be _some_ way to get word to her mother that she's okay.

And there she sat with a defiant gleam in her eyes as she basically told us we couldn't drag her away from us. The sense of… self-satisfaction… that was pulsing through my veins was unbelievable. She chose us. She didn't need anything else, anyone else. Just us.

Wasn't she… afraid to stay with us after what she had just seen? I had, after all, just attacked Mello with no warning. She must have thought I was a savage. My shoulder thought I was a savage…

That must have happened as I cannonballed into the coffee table. Or, rather, _was hurdled at full speed_ toward the coffee table. I didn't hold a grudge, though; I probably deserved it for going all whoop-ass on Mels. I just lost it.

I didn't lie when I said I was sick of Mello's bossiness; it does get annoying, majorly. I just didn't get it… Why would he insist on pushing her out? It was almost as if he wanted it to be boring again. But we couldn't just… go back to the way it was… Rose had been here too long. It'd be a bit discerning to have a week without her curled up in her favorite chair with a book. It'd be too… empty. It's just… weird.

"…? Matt?" I was suddenly jerked back to reality as Rose waved a hand in front of my face. "Earth-to-gamer, come in, gamer, incoming transmission!" I blinked, and it felt like my ears popped. I grinned.

"Whether or not the transmission will be accepted depends on whether or not it bears good news," I joked. She rolled her eyes.

"Your shoulder. You keep holding it. Is it okay?" she looked meaningfully at the hand that I honestly didn't know was holding my left shoulder.

"Okay, _Mom," _I said, smirking. "You worry too much. I'm fine, I promise." She just sighed and narrowed her obsidian eyes playfully.

"I _do_ worry. It's a wonder you've survived without me. Speaking of survival, Mello, kitchen. Now. I want to see you consume something besides chocolate." She fixed him with a stare and he shook his head, standing up. "I'll be right there," she said as Mels headed off into the kitchen.

As soon as he was gone, her eyes snapped to me. "Okay, now. You can tell me. Mello isn't here. He can't hear us. Why did you attack him?" There was a hint of a smile on her face. She knew I would tell her. I was wrapped around her finger, as was Mello.

"I just…" I started. She raised her eyebrows. "It's not fair!" I whispered. "It's like he _wants_ you gone!" I closed my eyes. I felt like a little kid. It was oddly comforting.

"Matt…" she didn't expect that response, it was clear in her eyes. She but her lip, then gently put her hand on my injured shoulder. "Matt, it's okay. I've made it quite clear that I'm not going to go without a fight," she grinned. "Come on, I've got a pork chop to shove down Mello's throat."

**

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A/N I tried to make Rose seem like the neutral person in the bunch, the peacemaker. She doesn't like violence. Also, the boys subconsciously realize they need her for the caretaker they lost when they were so young. Hope you liked! ^^**

**Yet again, Moony won't shut up about the poll. She wants to know if I should put up a poll; 'Should Matt Propose?' I say no, but SHE WON'T SHUT UP and who reads these things anyway. Just simply state whether or not the poll should go up, and moony, I'll THINK about it. Like, in book 2 or something. This is just merely for fun.**


	18. Look at Little Sister

**A/N just thought I'd give a shout out to every one of my readers! You know who you are! (Of course you do, or you wouldn't be here, now would you? Or would you…)**

**Here's where things get… excited… Hehehe ^_^**

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Chapter 18: Look at Little Sister

I was so _excited!_ I was actually wearing makeup, for once. I now wore my hair shoulder-blade length, and the now-red locks shined with the newly applied hair care supplies. Mello had somehow gotten me a pair of emerald green contacts, almost identical to Matt's. I was wearing lipstick, blood red, and it heavily complimented my new hair. Matt even went as far as finding me a pair of goggles, which I found a way to make them look cute. I didn't really want leather gloves, so Mels dug around for a pair of fingerless ones. I had painted my nails, blood red, of course.

Mello told Matt to stand next to me in front of the wall, and stepped back, holding his hands out in front of him in a 'frame'. He was humming a tune to himself, eerily familiar. I tried to place the tune while Matt openly laughed, singing along to the song that fit the situation perfectly.

"Shakin' like a tree," I looked at him.

"Rollin' like a log," I recognized the Stevie Ray Vaughan song now.

"Shakin' and a rollin' now, that aint all!"

Both of us laughed while Mels sang to himself, "Look at little sister…" he tilted his head. "You really _do_ look related… it's scaring the-"

"Language, Mels!" I giggled. Matt laughed. Rolling his eyes, Mello lowered his "camera" and placed a finger on his lips, narrowing his eyes in thought. Finally his eyes opened wide and he shot off down the hall.

"Mels…?" Matt asked. We stood there looking down the hall until Mello returned with a full-body mirror. I realized with a jolt that I haven't seen my reflection yet. Neither had Matt, or at least compared us yet.

When I was compared to Matt, the only difference was height and hair length. We both had our goggles on our foreheads, partially hidden under our bangs. Both pairs of our jade eyes were alit with the curiosity of the mirror before us. Both our hair shimmered in exactly the same places, probably due to the light behind us. I blinked.

"Whoa!" I heard Matt whisper. I tilted my head and brought a thumb to my lips. I mentally slapped my teeth away from the freshly painted nail, instead just tracing my lip with my thumb. I looked at the Matt beside me, then at the one in the mirror, then at the me in the mirror. I was suddenly reminded of the silly "one of these things does not belong" puzzles I did in kindergarten, and felt a stab of mixed chagrin and pride. Chagrin, because I was the one that didn't belong. That was me. Pride, because I looked _great!_

I was wearing my only off the shoulder top, a black and white striped one, and a leather jacket that actually was mine, not Mello's. My jeans were dark, and pre-ripped. I was wearing high heeled boots, since stilettoes weren't my thing. I wore a belt over my shirt around my middle. I had actually bothered with makeup, so my eyelashes were long and black. The blush that I had put on my cheeks made it look like I just came in from a chilly day. My red lipstick was bright and contrasting to my pale skin.

* * *

I looked back and forth between us, scratching my head. She had her thumb to her bright red lips and her eyes were moving back and forth between our reflections. I just stood there, dumbstruck. Mello and I had both helped with the ideas, like the gloves, goggles, and contacts, but Mello was the mastermind behind Rose's outfit. He was extremely disappointed that there wasn't a hint of leather in her wardrobe, save for the one leather jacket, and that clung to her shape tightly when it was zipped up…

As for the hair, Mello could only give tips. He said that he "wasn't about to turn into the gay salon guy", so Rose was basically left to herself. I gave into pity and cut it for her, though; it was actually easy if you put it in a loose ponytail and just lobbed that off. To my intense surprise, it looked better than you would have expected, coming from me. It actually looked _good._ But that was _before_ she dyed it. With red hair, Rose was… well, to say the least, stunning. But it was just plain awesome because it made her look like me. Now, if we both wore caps or something, like a beanie that didn't make you look like an idiot wearing it, we would be brilliant out there causing havoc on the normal people. Look at me, already planning for a future prank… I'm terrible…

And now, with the goggles, the green eyes, and the striped shirt- oh, the stripes! - I was almost starting to believe we were related or something. I couldn't take my eyes of her reflection in the mirror. It was me… with long hair. And a leather, form hugging jacket… and skinny jeans…

And no blush, which I was thankful she didn't see before I turned away. _What_ was I _thinking?_ Of course, it didn't help when her thin, hourglass shape was suddenly outlined, and nearly impossible to ignore. But when her cute, timid little smile turned into a bold, wide grin, and more pronounced with the lipstick she never used, it was almost like she was _teasing _me. I mean, it's not like that's _all _I thought about, but… living with a girl was very hard to pull off when emotions you didn't even know you _had_ suddenly attacked you like a rabid squirrel…

She suddenly looked at me, grinning. Crossing her arms, she leaned on me. "'Sup, Bro?" she asked casually.

"Nothin' much, Sis," I responded with a grin. "You look great for just one night, you know that?" I asked, confused on why girls went to such desperate measures to look prettier. We could've simply cut and dyed her hair, and it'd be over with. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she did, but it was so different from the "dress and go" code guys had.

"Mmm…" she nodded, thinking again. "I'm thinking I might keep the look. The outfit, at least, if not the hair color," she mused. I grinned.

"That would take a very long time to get used to, if you keep the hair," I said. She winked. She winked?

"Yeah, next time, you should dye your hair black, and Mello can be a red head," she said. Mello snorted.

"I don't think so! I'll be a Ginger when he turns into a Blondie!" he said defiantly. I rolled my eyes.

"Cool it, Mels, she was joking." I was surprised at the protective edge in my voice. Where did _that_ come from? Rose turned her head in surprise, arching her eyebrows.

"Whoa, Matt…?" she asked. Ah, she was so smart… it wasn't beneficial.

"You're now my sister; I have to be overbearingly protective of you, remember?" I grinned, and she relaxed. Good, she thought I was joking. Mello, however, just narrowed his eyes. Crap, he saw through me. I sent him an apologetic grimace, and he rolled his eyes, shaking his head and grinning. Rose, bless her heart, was oblivious to our exchange.

"You guys have two hours to do whatever… are you seriously going to spend it gaping at a mirror?" Mello asked playfully. Rose nodded, imitating a spoiled princess. It was cute. You had to admit; bad-ass looks good on her.

"Two hours?" I said. If I could get the Garmin started up now, maybe I could memorize the route and not need it at all. I hate electronic voices screeching in my ear when I miss a turn by their poorly guided instructions.

Mello nodded. "I'm going out for a while; there's nothing else to do, and I'm tired of TV." The blonde wandered off to the garage, where I could hear the bike started up. We stared at the mirror for a while, until I had to retreat to the living room, Garmin in hand, before I let my thoughts… wander.

Lighting up a smoke, I put my face in my hand to brush the bangs out of it. I sat there staring at the screen and puffing my oh-so-addictive nicotine as I struggled to keep up with the names of the street. _Screw it,_ I thought. _I'll just take the stupid Garmin._

Getting up to load it in the car, I glanced at the clock. Two hours had turned into fifteen minutes and two cigarettes left. Rose, who had given up on the mirror shortly after I had, was now lying on the couch, furiously punching buttons on her pink DS. She looked up when I called her name.

"Mels'll be back in a few minutes, maybe we should start getting ready to go," I indicated the clock. She nodded and got up, strolling to her room to get various items.

Just as I had predicted, Mello pulled up shortly after. Rose came skipping out with a red purse and some last minute bracelets. She still hadn't taken the L pendant off her neck, though; something about the silvery color grounded her, gave off the "good kid" vibe, no matter what her other clothing said.

When we got in the car, Rose called shotgun, while Mello wordlessly took the back seat. He was learning; there was no use in arguing with that chick.

We were halfway down the freeway when Garmin kicked in; "_Turn right in 3.2 miles, then turn left at middle ramp- recalculating. Turn left-" _I grumbled and tried to keep up with the unorganized female voice projecting through the speaker.

Finally, I pulled over and snatched the Garmin out of the glove box. My eyes took in the screen and I face palmed. We were four turns away and this stupid computer was taking us in circles!

Finally I just followed my own route and pulled into a place labeled "free parking".

"_You have reached your destination,"_ Garmin charmed from inside the trunk. How had that ended up there? Heh, heh, heh…

"Alright, what are your seat numbers?" I asked.

"B-14," Rose said.

"B-16,"

"Alright, and I'm B-15. Looks like we've made it with a few minutes to spare; hopefully it's not as packed as it will be when they come out…" I said, thinking of all those people…

We got out of the car, and walked into the Roxy Theatre. Technically, Rose was legally 18, well, in two days, so we decided that it's not going to hurt to get her a small vodka. And besides, her outfit made it look like she was 20.

We were just sitting down when the place filled up. It was like a poof, and then they were all just… there.

* * *

I. Was. _Ecstatic! _Here I was, in the second row, in the middle of my two best friends in the whole world, and yelling my face off because Billie Joe Armstrong was just less than twenty feet away from me. Yep, life couldn't get much better than this.

When they had taken a break and retreated back stage (to chug a gallon of water, no doubt), Matt tapped my shoulder. "Mels and I are going to go get something to drink. You coming, or will you be okay by yourself until we get back?"

"I'll be okay," I yelled over the shouting people around me. He nodded and I stood up to let Mels out.

It wasn't long before a guy tapped my shoulder. I had been through this drill a thousand times before; Stand up to let them in, they sit down, you sit down. I smiled and stood up, eager for the moment when they would come back on stage and everyone would be seated. But instead of walking around me to his seat, he tilted his head.

"Thank you, Miss," he said. "You just made this a whole lot easier on me," and he stepped forward.

* * *

"I think we should get something for Rose…" he trailed off. I rolled my eyes.

"Matt, we've waited fifteen minutes for Vodka; I'm _not_ turning around. Let's just go, you two can share."

"And what brings you to that assumption?" he raised an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes again.

"Matt! Honestly? You like her, right? Well, I'm almost certain she likes _you!_ So I don't really get the whole point of playing 'bashful', it's not like you," I said, shoving my hands into my jacket pockets. He stared at me.

"You… think she likes… me?" he burst out laughing. "That's a good one! Mels, she doesn't like me. Sure, we're best friends, but that's it," he said. I looked at him from the corner of my eyes, narrowing them. Matt never acted like that unless he was lying. But why would he lie to me?

We made our way back down the aisle, him in front. When we got to B-section, Matt froze. I saw him start to physically shake, and then he swallowed and got pale. What? He dropped his vodka.

"Hey, what the hell, Matt?" I asked as he shoved me aside to get back to the lobby. That vodka took us 30 minutes to get! I shook my head and stepped closer to B-section, and stopped in my tracks.

Rose wasn't there.

Her purse was spilled on the floor, and her phone was lying on the seat, opened and lit up, as if she were dialing a number. I stepped closer. Matt's number was keyed in, except the last digit, and the 'call' button hadn't been pressed. Her leather jacket was on the ground.

"Shit!" I said, and then ran after Matt.

**

* * *

A/N longness! And four POV's! :D I told you things were about to get exciting. **

**Thanks for reading! Please review, reviews make me write faster! :D**


	19. Stolen

**A/N: Ahh, poor Mello. He just got caught in the middle… Matt left him at the Roxy XD**

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Chapter 19: Stolen

After checking every possible area in the entire Roxy, I had no choice but to reluctantly abandon searching inside. I could not give up looking, even if I stayed up for days. I would not lose hope. Hope was my savior. If I lost hope, I lost Rose.

"Oof!" I grunted as the mas threw me down on the cold, harsh asphalt. My arm was twisted around painfully, and I realized he was still holding onto it.

I rolled over so I could sit up, but I was only sitting for maybe five seconds before something yanked me back down by the hair. I winced as I heard my head crack against the unforgiving concrete, but didn't close my eyes. I was afraid, afraid that if I close my eyes, I would pass out. Fall asleep now and it was over. I saw what - who – had pulled my hair. There were about three more men standing there. I was on my back, so of course they were upside down.

One of them walked over to me and knelt by my head. I tried to hold back the urge to vomit. He smelled of urine and beer. He reached over and held my chin in his hand.

"Hey, Girlie," he said, throatily chuckling.

"Please…" I whispered. "Don't…"

Suddenly, a beautiful, beautiful inspiration struck me. If I could just be heard…

"DON'T TOUCH M-" the rest was a gurgled mix of pain as one of them, the man who brought me to the alley, gave me a sharp kick in the gut. Somewhere nearby, an engine revved. Probably a teenager with a new hot-rod trying to egg someone on for a race. I tried once more, somehow not finding my full voice. "Don't touch… me…"

"What's the matter, Girlie?" one of them asked, sending me a direct kick in the stomach. I cried out in pain. The engine revved again.

I heard the engine loud as ever, seeming to tear up whatever it was driving on. Either the driver was pissed, or testing how fast it could go. I was going to go with pissed, because then I heard swearing. I opened my eyes enough to see the man in front of me look up. There was a peculiar look on his face. Suddenly, the kicking stopped, and I heard a familiar little _click-click. _My suspicions were proved when I heard a gunshot, and the men ran away, leaving me on the ground.

* * *

"Damn!" I yelled. There was no way the car was going to fit into the alley. I was going to have to look by foot. I had heard laughter from that alley, and if it wasn't Rose in there, I would at least protect this person. I was already on the hunt for a rapist; why not start here?

I revved the engine angrily, trying to find _some_ way to fit the car in there. Giving up, I just got out and slammed the door. Before I walked into the alley, I paused. Should I…?

"DON'T TOUCH M-!" I heard Rose's distinctive voice cut off with a cry of fear and pain. Yes, yes I should. I reached into the glove box and pulled out Mello's gun.

I walked in, surprisingly calm. I froze when I saw a group of four men, cackling and huddling around a weeping, shaking figure. The rage… the hate that swept through me was indescribable. But I kept a cold, flat face as I resisted the urge to put a bullet through their head. Instead, I shot at the sky, and they scurried away like the roaches they were.

"She said not to touch her," were my harsh words. I didn't say any more as I knelt down beside Rose, carefully scooping her up in my arms. "Rose…" I whispered. She had to be awake…

"Matt…?" she replied weakly. I was so relieved. She could talk. But how long before her adrenaline wore off and her body grew weaker? I stood up with her in my arms and knocked foreheads, willing her to be quiet and conserve her energy. Her red hair was matted with blood, she had hit her head. I wanted to murder somebody for every drop that fell to the ground.

"You didn't take care of yourself, Rose. You're mine, remember?" I grew dizzy at the faint smile she gave me. She was so brave…

I lay her down in the back seat of my car, and flicked out my cell. "Mels?" I asked, for it had answered on the first ring.

"_Where the hell are you?"_ was his angry response. I sighed.

"Mels, I found her… We're at the corner of Baker and 21st, got it? We need help… Hotwire a bike or something. It's not pretty…" I trailed off. He must have known what I was referring to by "not pretty", because he was silent for a while.

"_Alright, I got it. I'll come in a blue motorcycle, I've almost got it up,"_ in the background, I could hear furious clicking.

"Thanks, Mels."

* * *

I was holding her hand still when I woke up, but mainly because I needed it more than she did. I needed some proof that she was still there.

She was lying on the couch, with multiple IV's in her wrist. It was more convenient than having to take her to a hospital; where medical equipment was concerned, so was a social security card. Mello had been thoughtful enough to gather all her belongings back at the Roxie, so none of that was lost. But something wouldn't stop nagging at me.

Mello had said that her cell phone had my number keyed into it; not his own, not Near's, not even _911_. Why my number? Why did she think that calling me would help more than 911? True, if she called 911, they would find out who Rose was, and then she'd have to return to her mother. But in a time of panic, who would think of that? My number had to have been like a speed dial, maybe 9. But then, why was the last digit missing? It was almost as if she had purposely hit every button, and not a speed dial.

I didn't want to dwell on that; I might panic more. At least she was breathing on her own. Mello and I had taken turns 'watching' her, even though I never left my spot on the floor in front of the couch, not even to get something to eat. Mello had finally gotten worried enough to chunk a chocolate bar at my head. Well, that was one way to get it down my throat.

I just wasn't hungry. She certainly wasn't eating. So I just sat there, listening to her breathe. It was truly like music; last night, it was almost as if she wasn't breathing at all. But now, her breathing was normal, and her heart was beating strong. She had lost a lot of blood- it was amazing how much could come out when your head hits a block of concrete.

Mello was in the kitchen, searching for something I might eat. I wouldn't eat it anyway; food just wasn't appetizing at the moment. Of course, I hadn't eaten since before the concert. I didn't care though. As long as her eyes were closed, I didn't eat.

My arms were folded on the couch, one hand still gripping onto hers, my head resting on my arms. I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Go away, Mels." I said. Mello's head popped out of the kitchen.

"What'd I do?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm trying to keep you fed and…" he trailed off. I felt the tap again, and I turned my head. Her onyx eyes were open, and she was biting her lip. Mello coughed and retreated to the kitchen.

"Matt... Why'd you kill yourself?" she asked. I just blinked. What…? Before I could respond, she continued, "At least I know I didn't go to Hell…" and she turned her head to fall back to sleep. When she was asleep, I stood up and went to the kitchen, where Mello was waiting with his arms folded anxiously.

"Well?" he said. I just shook my head.

"Mello… Mels, she called me an angel… she thought she was dead." I couldn't comprehend it. Me? An angel? How hard did she hit her head?

He chuckled. "She's going to be okay. She can talk, and she can remember what happened. She's fine," he reassured me. I nodded and opened the cabinet, fishing out a bag of bread.

* * *

**A/N: Well, at least he's eating XD**

**This was hard to write… This took longer to write than it did to read! x.x I timeskipped a whole night in one chappie =/**

**Just letting you know, Rose will be okay.**** She's just more tired than anything. **


	20. Lost and Found

**A/N: I'm going to keep writing today, mainly because Moony will murder me if I make you wait another 3 days to find out what happens. And thanks, J, Dawnleapord, Skylarkz, Deepoblivion99, and Stabb0 for the reviews!**

**Any connection between 15 and the concert? At all? Person who guesses correctly gets a spoiler about the topic of their choice XD**

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Chapter 20: Lost and Found

I held the bag of bread in my hand, about to get out the cheese and ham, when I shook my head and put the bread back. Mello looked like he was about to tackle me, but I grabbed an apple.

"Matt…? You hate apples."

"I know," I said. "But there's a first for everything. Having one shoved down your throat kind of helps get over the fear of taste," I said, taking a bite of the fruit.

It wasn't so bad; it was the peel that I hated. But then again, I could just peel that off. Besides; I could eat that in there with Rose. I was already anxious; what if she woke up alone? Or worse; what if she rolled off the couch?

Mello shook his head and followed me into the living room.

* * *

I honestly didn't get it. Rose was going to be fine. Why did he insist on being paranoid? It wasn't like she was going to die or anything, although last night it had come pretty close.

I sat in a chair, kicking my feet up on the coffee table with a bar of chocolate, while Matt assumed his position sitting on the floor in front of Rose. I sighed, scanning the TV for something good to watch. _Grey's Anatomy_, no, I don't like drama, plus wasn't that about death in a hospital? Matt didn't need that. _American Idol,_ nah, I can't stand fifteen year olds whining like they have a voice. _Survivor,_ pffft, again with the drama.

Finally, I settled on _Two and a Half Men,_ partially because I couldn't stand _Glee,_ and partially because if Rose woke up, at least that was one thing I knew she liked watching. But screw it, the vodka I had last night was really getting to me. It's what happens when you drink and don't sleep; the hangover comes when you're awake, not waking you up, but instead keeping you awake. Which sucks. I flicked off the TV, not able to look at the glaring screen, and moaned.

"I feel like I got hit by a bus…" I groaned.

"Mello," was Matt's, who hadn't drank, cold voiced reply, "I'd feel _better_ if I got hit by a _speed train,_ so you've got it pretty good over there." Well, fine, be that way, go sulk. Well, I take that back. It had to be rough for him.

"Oh, God," I said. "I can only imagine how poor Rose's doing… hangover _and_ just barely escaping concussion…" I shuddered at the major headache that girl could be going through. Matt silenced me with a death glare. Okay, okay, fine. It hurt him to imagine how much pain she was in. Of course, I knew that. Why did I bring it up? Because I was an idiot, that's why. I speak my mind. Blah blah blah, the little Near in my head wouldn't shut up. I took great pleasure in slapping the Near in my head away.

"Hey, Mels," Matt said suddenly. "You know what you were saying about… About Rose liking me last night?" Well, that was uncalled for.

"Yeah… why did you laugh when I said that?"

"Oh, that… I guess I couldn't believe it… so naturally I acted like I didn't know what you were saying." But now he was looking at Rose's face rather than mine.

I tilted my head. He really did care about Rose. "I meant exactly what I said. She does care for you, ya know. That's why I left when she woke up… I kind of thought you needed a moment," I clarified. Matt coughed. Great, now he was getting sick.

"Really?" he asked. Clueless much?

"Well… yeah," I said. This was a very awkward subject. Suddenly I found myself talking with my best friend about who liked him and why. No, no this wasn't an awkward subject at all, I loved discussing these things! And no, of _course_ that's not sarcasm you hear!

"Huh," The goggled gamer lay his head on his arms again, splayed over the couch just next to her leg. He took a deep breath, and although the only thing I could see was the back of his head, his cheek was raised so I swore he was smiling. Smiling to myself, I stood up and took his apple core to throw it away for him.

"We have to tell Near, you know," he said. Damn, I just got him out of my head!

"Why?" I asked.

"He's the one who wanted us to keep her safe. If he finds out the hard way that she got dragged into a dark alley, he'll never trust us again."

"What do you mean, 'hard way'? Matt, she's fine!"

"I know _that,_ but if this is Kira's work, then when we get our hands on the Death Note, of course Near's going to examine it. Seeing Rose's name in there wouldn't help our situation at all. If you won't tell him, I will," he said. I snorted.

"Fine, I'll call. But only because if you had to raise your voice to get him to calm down it would wake her up," I said, stalking to the garage. I left my phone in his car last night.

* * *

"What do you mean, _hurt,_ Mello?" I asked. "Is she okay?"

"_I just told you she's fine, idiot!"_ the phone said sharply. _"We got her on the couch with an IV, and Matt won't leave her side. He's starting to remind me of a puppy."_

"What happened?" I narrowed my eyes, stacking a domino.

"_We went to a concert last night…"_ he trailed off.

"What? Mello, do you have _any idea_ how reckless that was?" I asked, my usual monotone drenched with venom. Even Gevanni flinched.

"_Yes, Near, I know how much of a screw up I am. That's what you're implying, right?"_ I sighed.

"Mello, I do not think you are a… 'Screw up', but there is a time when it just turns into idiocy."

"_Go to Hell,"_ the phone hissed. I rolled my eyes.

"That's not preferable, Mello. And you have yet to tell me what happened to Rose," I froze as one of my dominoes wobbled.

"_Uh…"_ I relaxed as the domino steadied itself, but turned my anger towards Mello.

"Let me guess; the most common attack on girls. You and Matt leave to go get drunk, and meanwhile, some man drags her into a dark alley." I wouldn't be surprised if I had guessed right, actually.

"_We didn't get drunk! Matt didn't drink at all!"_ he defended.

"You didn't answer," I stated.

"_Uh…"_ I sighed impatiently.

"Enough with the one-syllable answers, Mello. Was I, or was I not, correct in my theory? That would explain your discomfort."

"_Near… Yes, you were right. But we found her, and she's safe now. Like I said, Matt won't leave her side, and she's rehydrating. She's sleeping now, and she can talk. She hit her head, but she seems like she can remember what happened… But when she woke up, she thought Matt had killed himself because she saw him." _I thought about this. What would drive Rose to believe Matt would kill himself, I wondered.

"She was probably just tired," I said, not wanting to state my suspicions.

"_Actually, she thought she was dead, and called Matt an angel."_ Well, then.

"Hmmm… I see." I took a domino down, replacing it with a black one. "She thought she was dead, and by seeing Matt, she assumed he had committed suicide," I said aloud for Gevanni's benefit. He didn't have a headset to listen in.

"_Yeah,"_ the blonde replied dryly. "_Can I go now? If Rose wakes up, I want to be there. If she sees me, she'll either think we're all in limbo or know she's alive," _I could hear his chuckle.

"Or she would know she wasn't dead. And for the record, talking about death so lightly is… disturbing, to say the least."

"_Your intelligence is disturbing,"_ he mumbled. I wasn't supposed to hear so I let it slip.

"But yes, Mello. Give Matt a break; I wouldn't want him feeling like he's a dog guarding a bone." I imagined the goggled gamer sitting awake all night, making sure Rose was okay. Although it comforted me that she was in good hands, it made me a little uneasy for Matt's own wellbeing. Despite Mello's obvious hatred toward me, I actually felt affection for the two boys. Like the brothers I never had.

I heard him sigh. _"Yeah, I know. The only thing he's eaten since last night was an apple, and that's because the shock of her talking drove him to wander aimlessly into the kitchen. It's honestly starting to scare me," _he said. I could almost picture him running his fingers through his hair in distress. This was exactly what he was probably doing.

"Just make sure they both get enough to eat, Mello," I said. "You can go weeks without water, but only a few days without food of some sort. I don't care if you have to pump pudding down her throat, just get her to eat." _Click._ I snapped the phone shut and reached out to hand it to Gevanni. "That went… well," I commented.

I froze in shock as the man caused my towers to fall to the ground, an effect of him reaching out to grab the phone and his jacket knocked one single domino over. The rest had been a chain reaction. Twenty eight hours of stacking… worthless…

"Gevanni?" I asked. He looked up at me, cringing. "Get out, please." I held two dominoes in my hands, staring at them. One was black, the other white. He just nodded and sidestepped over the fallen towers to the door.

**

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A/N: AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA Near POV xD That was unexpected, wasn't it? Kyaaakukukukukuku :D**


	21. Senses

**A/N: Yeah! Rose wakes up! It's boring without the main charrie x3**

**I'm happy because you have to use the scroll thingy to get to my next chappie :3 Also, it's been a while since we checked up on Andy, right? XD **

**In regards to the spoiler contest, Dawnleapord mentioned "Mai being bored". That's part of it… Keep trying, though! Not quite! Recap, reviewer who guesses the connection to chapter 15 and a certain event that happened gets a spoiler on the topic of their choice!**

* * *

Chapter 21: Senses

I opened my eyes and immediately wondered where I was at and why I was there. I remembered little; the concert… the strong man… the _kicks…_

I was dead. I knew it the moment I remembered the painful kicking, my head making contact with the concrete…

Then why was I looking at a ceiling and not clouds, or endless expanse of sky? And why was there a slight pressure on my leg…?

I blinked and turned my head. There was floor, and wall. I looked down. I was still wearing my off-the-shoulder top and my hair was still the color of strawberries. I was on a couch. How disorientating. I expected… well, I don't know what I expected, but I didn't expect death to be like this.

I looked over at my leg, where the pressure was below my knee. I blinked. There was a red-headed boy in a striped shirt leaning his crossed arms on my leg, resting his cheek on his arms and looking away from me. Matt.

I tapped his shoulder. "Go away, Mels," he responded. Mello poked his head out from a corner. _So… what then?_

He said something along the lines of "What did I do?" but I didn't pay attention to him. He was so close to me… Mello glanced at me and I saw his eyes widen before he ducked back around the corner. Perhaps I was in a dream or something, going to the last place that comforted me. I was pretty sure he was going to the kitchen if I was dreaming that I was back at the house.

I tapped his shoulder again, and he stiffened and looked at me. His goggles were pulled up on his head, so his eyes were bright as ever. I just had to check…

"Matt, why's you kill yourself?" I wondered aloud. He blinked, so I went on. "At least I know I didn't go to Hell…" I was suddenly aware that his hand was in mine. How long had he been holding my hand?

I didn't have much longer to dwell on this, for the dark blanket that was called sleep pulled me under.

* * *

I woke up again, and Matt was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch and playing on his DS. I yawned. How long had I been out? I hadn't ruled out the possibility of death, either, but it seemed unlikely that the next life was supplied with Nintendo. Plus he was using the charger. Another fact supporting that it was real; it still needed power.

My neck was stiff, as if I had just gotten over migraine. I wasn't sure whether to blame the vodka or the concrete. I reached up to brush my bangs out of my face when I noticed that I was hooked up to an IV. So I _was_ alive.

I stared at the tubes leading from my wrist to a bag of water hanging from a rack. I was dehydrated, but couldn't they just soak me every now and then? Surely I would just absorb it all. I hated all medical equipment, from needles to the heart monitor. The whole aspect reminded me of death...

I groaned. Matt turned his head, snapping his Nintendo shut. Immediately he was up, gently placing his hand on my arm and the other by my head, on the couch. He looked at my eyes, when I absent mindedly wondered how they had gotten my contacts out.

"How do you feel?" he asked. His eyes were franticly roving across my whole face, as if looking for some sign I might be in pain. Apparently he found none, as his own face relaxed as he moved his hand from my arm to my shoulder, his thumb resting on my collar bone. "I was worried, you know. Me and Mels both." Apparently, Mello either heard his own name or guessed I was awake, and came out of his room, walking down the hall.

"Rise and shine, Sleepin' Beauty," he said, sitting on the couch by my leg. "Welcome back to the real world," he chuckled.

I tilted my head, looking at the wall just behind Matt's shoulder. I blinked a few timed. They were giving me so much attention; it made me feel loved.

I suddenly remembered something. "You saved me," I said. Or attempted to say, that is. My voice was hoarse, so I more half whispered half croaked than said anything. Matt closed his eyes and smiled as if he had been relieved of some burden.

"Yes, we did. You're talking," he smiled wider. Well what else was I supposed to do, bark?

"Of course, silly," I flicked his node. Mello posed his head over Matt's shoulder.

"You were out for only three days, we expected you to sleep longer," he said. I blinked. Three days?

"Oh…" I said. Normally, three days would be considered a long time to sleep. But the recent events were not normal. I reached back to scratch the back of my head, when I felt my hair. It was stiff, dried and crusty. Oh, it's… blood… I blinked. Matt smirked.

"See, we have the decency most hospitals _don't._ We didn't strip you down and put you in the shower while you were still unconscious," he said, indicating the blood that had dried in my hair. "Although we did try to get the majority out of your hair…" he bit back a smile as I sat up, and he took his hand off my shoulder, taking his place by my side on the couch. I resisted the urge to lie back down over his lap; instead I settled for holding his hand and leaning on Mello's shoulder.

"Thank you, for that…" I blushed. "But... what happened… exactly?" I asked, trying to make light of the confusing thoughts swirling around. Matt's expression darkened.

"You were kidnapped at the concert," Mello said for him. "Matt almost murdered four people for it, too. With _my_ gun," I could hear the sigh in his voice. I, on the other hand, was staring at Matt. He was… different. Lighter and more… happier. As if he was suddenly… free of something.

"Hmm…" I said. "I... I think I'm going to take a shower, now…" I said, standing up. Matt and Mello looked at each other, Matt's hands momentarily extending, ready to help if I fell, but I had it under control; if I fell, the worst that would happen was falling… and landing on Matt's lap.

I walked down the hall, my eyes sweeping over the familiar walkway. I knew it well; the walls were a nice tannish color, complimenting the wood doors. I walked into my room to grab some clothes, and took in the room for what felt like the first time. I had almost lost all of this…

I grinned. I hadn't lost it. And I hadn't lost Matt or Mello. Even though it was because of them… But that didn't matter. I was here. And they were here. Nothing else mattered.

**

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A/N: Gahh! I has writer's block again! D: bleh, but I already know what next chappie's gonna b... =/**

**Also,, Rose will not be in Stowaway, moony. I'm just too lazy to PM you.**


	22. Interest

**A/N: EXACTLY KASS! But… you don't have an account so… I can't PM you a spoiler D: could you make one? It'd be a lot easier... And then Dawnleapord gotted it :D Kass gets a cookie, Dawnleapord mayhaps gets a spoiler? :D**

**Sorry for the late update, guys… I'm kinda sick =/**

**And it's been a while since I've said this: Apparently, I have no rights over DN, or any of the charries. Sucks, don't it?**

* * *

Chapter 22: Interest

School was boring yet again. Plus I was worried for Rose because Near had decided to phone me about it just before the bell. Yes, I actually care about being punctual. It makes the idiots who show up late feel bad.

So the day dragged, as I worried about the potential murder and rape that could have happened to my friend a few days ago and it was next to impossible to keep tabs on Yagami all day. I felt awful that I couldn't visit and checkup.

I walked out of the door and stretched, letting the wind cool my face off. Walking over to my car, I saw something glinting out of the corner of my eye. Suspiciously, it looked like a bug. Matt's model.

Throwing my sweatshirt into the Corvette, leaving the door open, I walked over to the ditch where it was. Oh. It was just a broken bottle…

Shrugging, I went back to the car. I closed the door and started the engine, grinning as I felt it purr beneath the soles of my feet. I gave a small smile of satisfaction as the wheel responded to my every touch.

I was driving along the road before I realized I was. Maybe it was my worrying for Rose, or maybe I was just itching for a one-on-one DS battle with Matt. Whatever.

I reached over for my CD player, and pressed the first button, putting on my headset.

"_This is N,"_ I heard on the other end. I flipped down the mouthpiece.

"Near, it's Andrew. I'm heading towards Matt and Mello's place. I figured you would want me to check up on Rose for you," I said.

"_That's good; and news with Amaia?"_ said Near's voice, not even bothered to be disguised. Who would trace a CD player's signals?

"Same old, same old. She's still causing mayhem and under-confidence in the other girls' minds," I chuckled under my breath.

"_Is that a pet name I detect, Andy?"_ Near asked. My eyes widened. Pet name? Where had I mentioned…

"Oh… oh! No! I literally meant mayhem! Not Maihem! That would be creepy!" I shuddered.

"_Why so defensive?" _

"I don't… Whaddaya mean defensive?" I shouted.

"_You like her."_

"…"

"_Admit it," _he teased in his monotonous voice.

"That's… sick. It's not even funny, Near," I said.

"_But it's true." _Why did he get a kick out of annoying Mello and me? Because he was rubbing in the fact that he was first, that's why. I personally didn't care, but at least Mels got a _ranking._ I was every bit as smart as Matt, but there was no room for an A in the middle of the alphabet.

"No, it's not."

"_But you do,"_ he persisted.

"No I don't."

"_Yes you do."_

"No… I don't!"

"_Andy, there's no point denying it. You've fallen for Kira."_

That did it. Out of rage, I just threw up my hands. Just to piss him off, I yelled, "Fine! Ya got me! I am head over heels in love with Amaia Yagami!" _Click. _Well crap! He hung up on me!

My eye twitched as I took off the headset, putting it in the glove box.

I jumped when I heard a whiny, high pitched voice saying, "Ohhh, I _knew it!_ You love Mai-Mai!" _swerve. _

"What the hell?" I asked, slowly bringing the car to a stop.

Mai was gasping in the back seat. I had almost flipped over when she screamed in my ear. "What are you trying to do, kill Mai-Mai?" she asked.

"What are _you_ trying to do, murder _me_?" I shot back, and then bit my tongue, because that could be exactly the case.

She pouted, and then seemed to remember something. Grinning triumphantly, she sat up straight and tall, declaring "Andy, if you were in love, all you had to do was say so," and then she hopped over the seat, calling shotgun. "Chances are, I would have returned the favor."

I felt my eyes twitch. Where the hell'd that come from? Oh, crap…

I turned the key, starting the car back up. "I am not in love, Amaia."

"But Mai-Mai just heard you say you were! And you didn't know she was in the car, so you weren't afraid of her hearing! Just admit it Andy!"

I turned to her and slowly grabbed the wrist that was pointing towards me. I tried to calm myself by taking a deep breath. My voice was dripping with venom as I said, _"Don't call me Andy."_

She blinked. She was clearly not expecting that response. I let go of her wrist before I could accidentally leave a bruise. She began wringing her wrist, a confused look on her face. Great, I hurt her. Perfect.

"I-I'm sorry… Andrew, I really am sorry," she said softly. Well, she dropped the third person. I guess I really did get something out of this.

I stared at her, and tried to lighten my expression, to show that I wasn't as mad as I looked, and finally turned to the wheel, backing out of the ditch we landed in. I swear, if there were any scratches in my car…

"So… where _are_ we going?" she asked, returning to her previous happy mood. I snorted.

"Well, I was going to go check up on a friend, but you might not want to come," I said. Of course she wouldn't want to come. She was Kira, and if Matt and Mello's theory was correct, Mai wanted Rose eliminated.

"Oh, is he sick?" she said, worry ebbing into her voice. Did she honestly care? I doubted it.

"Yeah, you could say _she_ is," I said, putting stress on the feminine word. Now it was _Mai's_ turn to be angry, for whatever reason.

"Andrew…!" she trailed off, not having a last name to scream. "How could you do this? You just said you loved me, and already you're off caring for another woman!" she crossed her arms and pouted. I rolled my eyes.

"Amaia, I said nothing of the sort. You're delusional. But however, I doubt the girl I'm visiting likes me. I know Matt would murder me if I pulled a move, anyway," I chuckled at the release Near had told me that morning, also. Apparently, Matt liked Rose more than the usual "buddy-buddy" relationship. But that came from Mello, so you couldn't be too sure.

Her mood brightened instantly. "So, you don't like this girl? And you're still free? Andrew, I promise you, even though you don't like me yet, I will change that!" she pounded her fist into her hand. Yet again, she dropped the third person.

"And why is that, Amaia?" I asked exasperatedly. "Dating is just a game to girls." I almost said 'girls like you', but stopped myself. "Boys are just pieces of meat to be thrown around and fought over," I said. "You probably just want me for a trivial matter, like my car." _Or the fact that she suspected me of tailing her, but couldn't kill me unless she had my last name... So it would make sense to try and get close to me. I wonder if I played along, if she would actually go as far as to ask my last name…_

"Andrew!" she exclaimed. "That is not true! Girls are sophisticated, likable people, with feelings and sensitivity to their partner!" she said, putting her index fingers together as if that simple movement would relay all the words going on inside her head. Which, knowing her, it probably would. I didn't even know such large words existed in her vocabulary.

I sniffed. "Uh… sure." I turned back to the wheel, not really understanding why she said that. Was she… _flirting?_ It wasn't too subtle if that was the case.

"What, you don't believe me?" her voice broke as it reached into an unused octave. I sighed.

"I believe what you said about women being sensitive and caring creatures, if that's what you mean."

"Humph," she crossed her arms once more and turned her head. Ah, that must have been from me calling her a creature. _Success!_

I grinned as I hit another button on my CD player, this time leaving it on speaker.

"_Hellooo?" _was Matt's light answer.

"Hiya, Matt. I'm heading your way, and I accidentally brought a certain Blondie hitchhiker," I glanced towards Amaia, who had forgotten her pout and was staring at my talking CD player.

"_Alright, is it the one with the…?"_ he trailed off. Death Note. That's what he didn't say.

"Yeah, she is."

"… _I'll tell Rose, then…"_ he said before disconnecting the line. Amaia turned to me, her eyes wide.

"Rose? Rose Lawliet? She's… You're visiting Rose? No, no that's… you can't… that's impossible…!" she was terrified; I could see it in her eyes.

"Mai…?" I asked cautiously. No telling what the blonde Kira would do now.

"Ah… Rose…" she was scrambling for an explanation. "She hasn't been in school for half a year… She... she has to be…" she trailed off.

"What?" I prodded.

"Maybe Kira knew she didn't like him…" she trailed off, sounding as if there were a razor in her throat. "I-I… Mom said… All who oppose Kira will die and… Maybe…" she trailed off yet again.

"Maybe what, Amaia?" I asked innocently.

"Maybe Kira was killing off everybody to do with the police…" she said softly. This would make sense, even if she was practically confessing. Rose was training to be a police officer.

"But that's impossible, Mai. Rose is alive and well," I assured her. Well, perhaps not well, but… she was walking and talking, from what Mello reported to Near.

"Uh… but... uh…" she stuttered. Was it too hard to accept that her twisted murder method had failed?

"What is it, Mai?" I whispered, loving how much she was squirming.

"I was so prepared… to get the news… that she was dead… it hurt… but now… I'm thrilled."

* * *

He stared at me, dumbstruck. I could tell he wasn't expecting that. What's more, I had dropped the "stupid" act that I usually kept up around people. I was dealing with my own crisis.

I had written Rose's name down to separate myself from all connections that I had, because it would be easier for them to die than for them to hate me. I had done the same with my other friend at school, Sakura, who had mysteriously died of a house fire last week. While if killed me to think that I was tho=e one murdering my innocent friends… it was to protect them, in a way. Now they would never know it was me.

But now I was in danger.

Rose was alive.

**

* * *

A/N: Gahh! I finished! And thank you guys for the reviews! Mello sends his cyber s'mores out to all of ya! **

**Questions for the comments: If you were Kira, would you act as Light had, going straight for the enemy (L), or as Mai had, cutting all ties so as not to hurt any unnecessary people? Or would you just give up and turn yourself in, accepting the humiliation of failure (And ridicule from Mello xD)?**


	23. Visitors

**A/N: Gahhhhhh…. MEH. That's really all I can say. GROAN… **

**If I owned Death Note, Matty would have lived longer than Light. {Hehe, that's gonna be my new signature x3}**

* * *

Chapter 23: Visitors

The room I entered was… strange, to say the least. There was a computer on the floor, facing away from me, and there were two redheads crouched in front of it. Well, the boy was, and the girl was lying on her stomach. The girl was wearing black lacelet fingerless gloves, and her red nails flashed across the keyboard so fast I would have lost track of them had they been painted the same color black as the keyboard. _These guys like red…_ I thought to myself as Andrew talked to a blonde with a _red_ crucifix on. I didn't catch what they were saying, but rather, I was trying to figure out why the boy was looking so affectionately at the girl that was obviously his sister.

I caught the word "Hitchhiker" as Andrew nudged me, annoyed, and the blonde raised his eyebrow. I gasped. That was the first time I looked directly in his face. That guy… his face was…

I felt so _sorry_ for him. Blinking, and bowing, for these people were clearly from Japan judging by their accents (the redheads at least), I avoided his eye contact. He rolled his eyes, holding the door open so Andy- I mean Andrew- and I could go inside.

I got a better view of the room; it was a living room. There was one couch and two chairs, along with a TV and a coffee table. The redhead girl looked up and blinked. There was a smile playing on her lips as she typed a few more words, and then clicked a few times, and the computer shut down. She tapped the redhead boy's shoulder and whispered in his ear. He raised his eyebrow and she said something like "I know, Matt. I know."

I was a little confused as the redhead shrugged and walked off into a room which I assumed was the kitchen. The girl sat up and yawned, stretching and standing up. Her shoulder length ponytail fell over her shoulder and something shiny caught my eye… a chain. It was a necklace. And there was a familiar pendant on the end… it was a… _It was an L!_ That was Rose's necklace!

Now that I looked at this girl closely… her dark eyes were just wide enough, and her skin was just pale enough. This was my Rosie!

I leaned in, to get a better look at her. "R-Rosie?" I asked, incredulous. "What did you do to your _hair?_ It looks… simply put, amazing! Where have you been?" The excitement wore off as the red headed boy walked in and handed her a blue coffee cup and putting his arm around the shivering girl's shoulder, trying to warm her up, I guessed. I blinked and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the person who was getting too casual with my best friend. She struggled to keep up and not spill her coffee as I pulled her into the kitchen.

"You hate coffee!" I hissed.

She rolled her eyes. "That's what _he_ said, too!" she jabbed a thumb toward the door, indicating the boy. "And you're right, I do hate it. I'm just so flippin' tired…" she stifled another yawn with a sip of coffee.

"Alright, spill it. Who are… _they?_ Are you alright? Are they hurting you…?" Even though I had previously tried to murder her, which was just to protect her, I still had strong protective feelings toward my best friend. And besides, there was no way her name was ever going to reach my Death Note again. "Rose, why'd you skip school? It's been eight months…!"

She rolled her eyes. "No, Mai-Mai, they're not hurting me. They actually… well, they're the reason I'm alive. If it weren't for them, I would have been another target for some random street thugs. But that's another story. Come on, I'll introduce you," she took another long swig of coffee. Oh boy. She was talking fast, it was only a matter of time until the caffeine kicked in and she was high wired...

I ignored the "street thug" comment, not wanting to dwell on what I had nearly done, and gnawed my own watermelon lipglossed lip as Rose leaned against me, again trying to get warm.

"Amaia," she said in a tuney voice. "You've met Andrew," she waved her hand passively. She pointed to the scarred blonde. "That's Mello," and she turned me around to face the boy with the goggles, who had gone back to the computer. "And… that's Matt," she said matter-of-factly. She gave Matt as much introduction as Mello, and if this were written down it would be impossible to detect the difference. But it was even hard for me to catch this, and I've known her since first grade. The way she said "Matt", just her _tone_ of voice, she may as well have said "_My Matt, eyes off." _She leaned her head on my shoulder, grinning.

Matt looked up at the mention of his name, and noticed me, closing out of whatever he was typing. He looked back at Rose and fought a smile, standing up and grabbing a throw blanket off the couch. He side-stepped over the computer and pulled her away from me long enough to wrap her up burrito style and nudged her back to me. She sniffed indifferently, bringing her arms out of the blanket.

"I'm not a doll, you know," she said blushing. "If enough people drag me somewhere, I'll lose my arm." She was so different from the Rose she once was… she seemed more care-free.

Finally, Andrew spoke up. "So how are we going to settle the Mai problem?" he asked.

"Problem?" I asked.

"I was going to stay the weekend here, but… You need to get home." He said. But…!

"Uh… do I have to? I go out all the time, mom won't miss me. And I miss Rosie; I dunno when I'm going to see her again!" I was so disappointed that I forgot to put up the third-person act. Oh, well.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Well, if it's okay with Matt and Mels," she teased. "WE can't make decisions without asking them," she pointed out. True…

"We have another spare," Matt volunteered. I brightened.

"Yeah," said Rose. "We have two options; Mai can have my bed, Andrew can sleep in the spare, and I can sleep on the couch," I don't know why, but Matt grimaced. "Orrrr… I can sleep in the guest and Mai and Andrew can have my bed, since it's a full sized."

"Yes!" I exclaimed. I would need to keep an eye on Andrew. And besides, he _was_ cute.

"No," Andrew said bluntly. Grr. My head fell, and I felt myself slip into a pout.

"Fine," I said. "I'll sleep in Rose's bedroom. But Rose, why do you have to sleep on the couch?" I asked.

"Well, I couldn't sleep with you… I learned at our last sleepover that you snore!" she teased, trudging over to sit in a chair.

"Hey!" I played. She shrugged. Matt flopped down on the couch and snatched a DS off of the coffee table.

* * *

What was she thinking? She couldn't sleep alone. She would have that one nightmare…

She hadn't had a single bad night in eight months, and it was because somebody was there. I wasn't going to let that fail.

The other three had gone to bed, and it was just Rose and I, looking at criminal death rates on the computer. As far as we could tell, there wasn't any pattern. Rose was on a sugar raid, seeing as she was thinking overtime. I knew it was getting bad when she asked for coffee. She would rather eat a toad than drink coffee, and I wasn't exaggerating.

Finally, we gave up and decided we've researched all we could. I finally turned to Rose and asked her what she intended to do.

"What the hell are you thinking?" I asked softly. She looked at me, and sighed.

"Well, Matt, think; they're not sleeping on the couch, that's just rude, and I can't sleep in _your_ bed with you because that would pose an awkward situation that Mels would never let us live down. This is the only setup."

You had to admit, it was true; I didn't fancy Mello making _those_ jokes… about us… ugh.

But that was beside the point. Rose was going to go through Hell and back tonight if something wasn't worked out. This wasn't about some petty protectiveness I had over her; this was about the state of her mental happiness. It was depressing her before, that was physically visible. Even Mello noticed a difference in her attitude.

"Then what do we do?" I asked persistently.

"_You_ sleep in your bed. _I'll_ sleep on the couch. Chances are, I probably don't even remember the nightmare well enough to have it."

That wasn't true. Even today, I still sometimes have painful memories… of glowing, red eyes… and blood, so _much blood…_

I shook the thought out of my head. Maybe one night wasn't going to kill her. She did seem to be getting better.

"…Alright. But you know where I am if…?" I asked awkwardly. I felt like I was setting her loose with a rifle, for some reason.

"You going to give me a map of the house?" she teased.

"Maybe," I half joked. The other half was contemplating the possibilities of that… I was being over protective, I know. And over a _nightmare._ Get a grip, Matt.

We said goodnight, and I walked into my room, almost unfamiliar with the surroundings. I swore, I felt eyes on the back of my neck as I fell asleep…

**

* * *

A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Kinda xD looong chappie. Seven pages. Later tonight, Matt's night is continued. Why tonight? Because I'm not done writing for tonight xD**


	24. Beyond Birthday

**Told ya I wasn't done for the night. And now, we plunge into Matt's dreams... hehe**

**I only give a disclaimer once a night, sorry.**

* * *

Chapter 24: Beyond Birthday

"What's the matter, Andy?" he said. _Crap! And I was just about to get up and hightail it, too… But of course, Beyond has to show up…_

I crawled under the couch before he could see me, pushing my goggles over my eyes.

"Go away, B," Andrew had the guts to say. That boy was psycho; it was a wonder Andrew had the courage not to run away from him.

"Why? Are you depressed?" Beyond taunted. _Shut up, B,_ I thought. It was bad enough that BB had to harass Andrew; now he had to rub it in. It wasn't fair. _Just run, Andrew. Don't play brave face, it doesn't work with him. He doesn't like you, A! He won't stop until you're mad!_

"What's it to you?" Andrew asked bravely. For a kid three years younger than me, he had a lot of guts. I would have run away by now, but that's because I didn't have Mello by me. Mello made _everything_ easy.

"Don't play dumb, Andy." I cringed. "You know what I want. You're number one, then there's Near, and then Mello, and then Matt. And _then_ there's me. I would kill you right now, but you won't make it past your 20's, Andy. I can see it."

Andrew was visible shaking, and BB leaned in and took Andrew's face in his hands. "Don't be scared. It's just life. Everybody dies, eventually. You're just going to die a lot sooner," he smirked, and stood up, turning to leave. Andrew dropped to his knees, and I watched helplessly as the friend that was very much like my brother was sobbing senselessly. I could just lay there. Beyond had said he… saw… when Andrew would die… how?

I sat up and blinked in the dark room. It took me a while to calm down and remember that I was waking up in my own room, for once. I ran my fingers through my hair. _Ugh…_

I got up and shuffled down the hall for some water. I paused by Rose's door, hearing snoring. Rose didn't snore… Oh, yeah. Amaia was in her room. This left Rose on the couch…

And alone.

"Shit…" facepalm. I blinked, trying to wake up, and walked into the living room.

The blanket was twisted around her legs, but most of it was on the floor. She was incredibly still, but soft whimpering noises floated across the room. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I watched her steady breathing. It was so warm… a word that I found myself associating with Rose more often than not.

I tiptoed across the living room. If she was awake, I didn't want her to know I was coming. She was facing into the couch, her back turned away. Her shirt was riding up, just slightly, but exposing _just enough_ skin, and a smile played at my lips. My hands were _freezing._ That would wake her up.

But as I crouched by the couch, I could tell she was definitely awake. She sniffled, and sighed, nibbling on her thumb. She probably had just woken up. I put my hand on her side, jolting her with the shock of my cold skin.

"Hey, you. You okay?" I asked, as she panted from the unexpected chill. She turned her head and sat up. Even from the dim light of the large window along the wall, I could tell her eyes were red. But it didn't look like she was crying seconds before, because of the surprise on her face. Her jaw trembled, and she closed her eyes in embarrassment.

"Hey… hey, what's wrong?" I asked, sitting on the couch next to her and pulling her in for a hug. She leaned her head on my shoulder, and I could tell she was exhausted. "You had the bad dream, didn't you?" I whispered over her head. She just nodded. "Come here," I said, picking her up bridal-style, and her hand clenched onto my shirt. "I'm not gonna drop you," I promised, carrying her down the hall. She relaxed some, but still held onto my shirt.

I lay her down on the bed, and she sighed. She mumbled something incomprehensible, and laid her head against my chest. Yeah, she was exhausted. She yawned and rolled over, her lip jutting out just a little, pouting slightly. She looked up at me and blinked.

"Now I can't sleep." She was more annoyed than drained now. I chuckled.

"We could play 20Q. The one where you ask questions about each other, not the 'what animal am I', thing. Sound entertaining?" I only had a basic outline of what games she liked to play. I figured 20Q was better than squeezing our eyes shut and pretending to battle Mario Karts.

She shrugged. "Sure. You start."

* * *

"Mello!" I heard. "Wake up!" I felt a rough shove against my shoulder. I groaned.

"What?"

"You'll never believe what's on NHN." I rolled over and looked at Andrew.

"Why are you watching TV?" I asked, glancing at the clock. "It's midnight."

"I get a live feed on my i-pod. But look," he said, holding up the glowing rectangle of light. I sat up.

"_Obviously, Kira's back, and he or she wants us to follow them again," _I heard a female voice say through the headphones._ "Criminals, beware, and good people with pure hearts, do not fear! As long as you are true, you will live. And remember, kids, naughty children get heart attacks for Christmas!" _she joked. That line wasn't the reason I was shocked. It was Kira's spokesperson. You guessed it.

It was Misa Yagami.

I closed my eyes. Not good. That was not good. I stood up, heading for the hall. "Have you told Matt yet?" I said, putting my hand on the handle of my door.

"Not yet," he said, following me and rewinding the video. I shrugged and walked out into the drafty hall. I tilted my head as I saw that there was a light coming out from under Matt's door. It wasn't bright; probably a lamp. Well, he was probably on his DS, or maybe he had heard of Misa already.

I almost turned the knob, but I heard voices. They were muffled through the door, but it was definitely a conversation.

"Andrew?" I whispered. "Go see if Rose is in the living room," I said. "I don't think she should hear about Misa just yet…" He nodded and jogged off into the living room.

He came back shaking his head, pointing to the door. I nodded and opened Matt's door, poking my head in.

* * *

"Favorite… Constellation?" he asked.

"Ahh… Orion… and Dog, I think it's called. Orion and Dog. Favorite animal?"

I felt the muscle in the arm I was laying on flex as he stretched, and then I shivered as he laid his hand on my shoulder. "Panther," he said simply. "It's powerful. Sleek and muscular." His eyes averted to the area over my shoulder, and I heard a _click._ The door…?

He raised his chin a fraction of an inch and blinked. "Mels," he said levelly. I was glad I didn't look toward the door earlier; if I had, my blush would have mortified me.

"I… err, uhhm… Y-you two are… be-behaving… r-right?" I could feel his embarrassment from across the room. That's one thing I loved about Mello; we both got embarrassed so easily. But I don't think either of us was prepared for Matt's response.

"Ya know, Mels," he said. Curling the arm I was on so that I was on his chest. _Meh..._ "Maybe we're not."

I swear I felt my pupils dilate as he traced my neckline with his jaw. "So I would leave before you get scarred for life, Mello," he said, putting one hand on my back, the other on my hip, bringing his jaw to my ear and sighing. Then he rested his chin on top of my head, allowing me to hide in his shoulder. "I'm talking emotionally _and_ mentally, Mels," I could hear the feline smile in his voice, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a muscle in Mello's face twitch. He nodded and slowly closed the door. I snaked my arms around his neck, and his jaw continued to trace my neck.

"He's gone, you know." I reminded him. "…that wasn't just to get him out, was it?" I asked when he didn't respond.

"Not solely." He answered, breathing into my ear. I knew all I had to do was turn my head, but still…

"Then what was… the _sole_ reason?" I asked.

He paused for a moment, thinking. "You," he answered simply. The one word could mean so many different things; but the one bad thing about being vague, is it's easier to get impressions, whether they're right or wrong.

"Matt…" I sighed. He suddenly went tense.

"Too much…?" he asked warily. I couldn't look at him, because his jaw was frozen at my neck, so I surprised us both by laying my head on his chest, listening to his erratic heartbeat. It was excited, fast, like mine. I waited for him to relax some and for his heart so calm down before answering.

"No. No, Matt, this is _definitely_ alright," I said, using the hand that was behind his neck to rub at the tense muscle. He was _really_ tense; it was a wonder he didn't have a headache. Maybe he did.

A low moan escaped his throat and he put his chin on my shoulder. "You have _no idea_ how much pressure that relieves," he said, practically purring. His hands stayed where they were, at my hip and back.

"I think I do. You're a mess, you know that?" I asked.

"Look who's talking, little miss insomniac," he teased. I grinned and he lifted his head off my shoulder. He looked at me in the eye, very serious. "I… Rose, I want to try something…" He brought the hand on my back to my shoulder and traced my collarbone with his thumb. "If you don't like it, tell me. I just want to see something…" he might have said more, but my heart was beating too fast and hard in my ears for me to hear. Would I pull away? Never…

The contact was quick, and felt like lightning. I gasped at the icy-hot temperature on my lips and he gasped too, pulling back and turning his head, just a little. I closed my eyes and buried my nose in his neck.

"Why…?"

**

* * *

A/N: Okay, I KNOW that's a cliffhanger. And this morning, I TOLD YOU this chapter would be up tonight. (Yus, it was AM when I posted it over here) So I no lie xD**

**Moony's been anticipating this chappie for a while, but I know I'm killing her by ending it here. You're welcome ^^**

**And yes, I know this chapter wasn't centered around BB. The title's to throw you off. xD**


	25. Crossing the Rubicon

**A/N: This makes up for the chapters I've missed disclaimers on:**

**If I owned Death Note, Matty would have lived longer than Light.**

**If I owned Death Note, Mello wouldn't have died because idiot Takada would have written his name in the FAKE NOTE.**

**If I owned Death Note, L would have many, many more fangirls.**

**If I owned Death Note, Light wouldn't be a jerk toward Misa. **

**If I owned Death Note, Misa would in fact be a genius in disguise. **

**If I owned Death Note, Ryuk would marry an apple. XD**

**I DON'T OWN DEATH NOTE.**

* * *

Chapter 25: Crossing the Rubicon

The feeling in my chest was worse than getting shot down by twenty men at once and surviving. I knew what that felt like. I really screwed up this time. Great job, Matt, you're a genius. Give the kid a Nobel Prize.

But the girl who was hiding in my shoulder continued speaking. "Why'd you pull away?"

I blinked. She _was_ upset, but not for the reason I thought. She was sad… because I had pulled away too soon. I was ecstatic, but not for the same reason.

She _wanted_ me. She wanted me, and I wanted her. I blinked, rolling over, and she gasped as my face hung inches above hers. My eyes were firm, but playful.

"For the record, it's a vest, not an overcoat. I hate apples… _with a passion._ If I went to bed at 3:00 sharp every night, I would fall asleep in the car more often than not. But… as for me belonging to you… you got that half right. _You_ are _mine._" She blinked. Well, I had just said the exact opposite of what she thought. Seriously… she thought I'd stopped because I _didn't like it? _I was the one who suggested it!

I rolled my eyes. Girls could be so silly sometimes. I put my nose to hers, grinning. "Rose, if I lost you… I… I don't know what I would do. It was _so hard_ for me when you…" I trailed off. Suddenly her eyes were fierce.

She sat up, pushing me off of her. "Shut up," she said. "You keep talking about how hard it was when I almost died. Think of how I felt." I blinked. "_I_ almost lost _you. Twice."_ She poked my shoulder. "The first time, you could either blame yourself or B, but the last time… this was chance. You had no idea how I felt, hardly even a teen, watching you get gunned by twenty men from fourteen different angles, over and over and _over and over._ And then that night, supposedly Takada wrote Mello's name down. It was only the week _after_, when Near was certain you could both walk, that he told me that you were alive and Takada had used the wrong notebook. Thank God that Mello thought to replace it when he confiscated hers!" There were tears in her eyes, and I got it. I finally got it. She thought I was dead, when I merely feared she was going to die. There was a huge difference there.

"It's like you're back from the dead," she confirmed my thoughts. "Matt, I… I think…" she trailed off, looking away and blinking the tears out. She brought her thumb to her mouth, a sign of anxiety, and finally folded her hands together and looked at me. "Matt, I love you."

I blinked, feeling like I could very well jump off a building and land on a cloud, unscathed. Her eyes grew wide as I grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her back on the bed and kissing her neck hungrily. "I've waited so _damn long_ for you to say that," I said, bringing my lips to the corner of her mouth. There was no going back now. We were crossing the Rubicon, past the point of no return.

She was stunned by my suddenness, so she blinked a few times before wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me. Forcibly.

Okay, so maybe I was kissing her a little too rough. But she was doing the exact opposite of retreating. If it weren't for the fact that _I _had _her _pinned down, I would have seriously worried about her overpowering _me._ Not that there was anything wrong with that.

We rolled onto our sides, and Rose broke the kiss, gasping for air. She brushed her hair out of her face and behind her ear before leaning her head on my shoulder and putting her arms around my chest. My left hand was still tangled in her hair (how had that happened…), and my right hand was on her hip, which I moved up to the small of her back, because, let's face it; it looked like I was squeezing her ass.

"Wow…" she managed to say, catching her breath. I myself was a little light headed. She looked back up at me and pecked my cheek. "I really, really do, you know."

I hugged her around the waist, breathing in the strawberry scent that was coming from her hair. "I know. And I love you, too." The corner of my mouth twitched as I looked at the door and was reminded of Mello's face when I had seized Rose into my arms in front of him. He was probably having a panic attack in the kitchen right now. I chuckled as I whispered in her ear, "Poor Mello… do you think we should check on him?" I asked, sitting up with her in my arms.

"Why not? He didn't think twice about checking on _us,_ did he?" she giggled. It was only when she had brought her lips to mine again, trying to get me to react, that I realized what just happened.

_You just had your first kiss, man! _I reacted, alright. I cupped her face in my hands, and this time it was sweet, her eyes staring back at mine the entire time. It was a giddy feeling, love was. Like the aftershock of walking on a treadmill for an hour for the first time, how it feels like you're floating when you get off.

"Mello can wait," she mumbled around my lip.

"Damn straight," I sighed.

* * *

What. The Hell. Had I just witnessed?

How had the night been turned from "warn Matt about Misa Yagami" to "Get away from Matt and Rose before you get scarred for life"? Andrew asked why I looked like I had just seen a ghost, and I just shook my head. He would have been more accurate if he said "Why do you look like you've just seen a ghost do the splits and start juggling?" Then maybe I would have answered.

I gnawed on my chocolate bar, my only source of relaxation, and sunk into a couch. I wouldn't tell Andrew; to be honest, I didn't think I could even _talk._ Finally, Andrew got a little weirded out at my expression and the fact that I had retreated from the room immediately after opening the door.

I don't know why I was so surprised; it was bound to have happened sooner or later. Then again, it could have been to get me _out _of there, and if that was why, it worked. Rose looked too shocked to respond, so clearly this was new to her. But Matt looked so… devilish. The Cheshire cat smile he threw me basically said "I win," though what he "won" was a mystery to me. Unless he was referring to Rose… then it would make sense. It must be a pretty heady thing, knowing a girl that would let you interact with her… _that_ way. Although I'm sure Rose didn't know what was going on when he did what he did, it didn't look like she was going to pull away or anything.

I should probably relax; even if they _were_ up to... erm, "no good"… it wasn't my place to worry. And anyway, if I knew Matt as well as I thought I did, he would tease her more than anything. He was the type to manipulate others into wanting what he wants, in the end, he always gets his way. How else would Rodger let him smuggle his video games into Wammy's?

I popped the last square of chocolate in my mouth, telling Andrew that I was going to bed, and that he should get to bed, too.

* * *

**A/N: Meh, I'm not too impressed with this one… but IT'S FLUFFY! :D**

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**EDIT: No, not too impressed at all... D:**

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**No, fluff isn't ALL I write.. O.o it's just _easier _****to write xD**

**Ah, it's SO AWKWARD to write about first kisses… *sigh* This chappie was a LOT longer in my head… =/ meh. Considered scrapping it. I seriously did. But I listened to some Jack Johnson, and I thought "No wai, I worked HARD on this!" lol. Yus, I'm VERY random. I smell popcorn, so I'm gonna go get some from Momma. :D**

**Luv y'all! Thank you SO much for sticking with my story! ^-^ **

**MILESTONE: Today, April 1****st****, I went to Inola's Battle of the Brains for the Enrichment program. I was in the Language Arts test, and I got third place for my grade representing Verdigris MS. Congrats to Moony, who got 4****th, Language also!****! :D Keep in mind; we were competing with about 200 other kids. Meh… but Momma got me a HUGE thing of ice cream in celebration. xD**


	26. Hello

**A/N: Blargh. I have to make up for the fail of a chappie the last one was. -_-" **

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Chapter 26: Hello

I stretched and crossed my ankles, loving the easiness that happened in the next couple of days. We got everything cleared up with Mello, who had indeed had a panic attack, according to Andrew. Mai was oblivious, as she was sleeping (it was like, 10:00 or something), and had watched us closely that weekend. When it was Sunday, the day Mai had to go home, she asked to talk to me.

I wondered what was up as she skipped down the hall and into my room, shutting the door behind me. Once she made sure the door was locked, she immediately turned to me.

"So… have you kissed yet?" I naturally wanted to play dumb.

"What do you mean?" Honestly, that was a ridiculous question to ask. Then again, she didn't know what happened Friday…

She rolled her eyes. "Come _on,_ Rosie!" she took my hands and started jumping like those fangirls you see on TV. "It's obvious! I've been watching you two this weekend, and if you hadn't noticed, I think he's got the hots for you!" I felt my eyes twitch. It was… that… obvious?

"Uh…" I scratched my head, pretending to be dumbfounded. Then I got an idea. It was a good thing I was embarrassed, because I needed a blush… "I-I don't… think so…" I said, looking down. She stopped jumping.

"What do you mean?" she pulled me over to sit on the bed. I looked at my hands, attempting to look forlorn.

"Ah… I don't think Matt likes me… like _that._" Boy, was that a lie. I tried not to burst out into laughter, but rather, urged fake tears to come out so I could wipe them away. I was very good at thinking things like this through.

Mai sniffed. "What do you mean by _that?_ And… oh, Rosie… Don't cry!" she hugged me and I grinned behind her back. _The bait was set! _Now I would get to see just how "obvious" it was.

I sniffled, clearing all happiness from my face and looking back at Mai when she released me. "But… it's true, isn't it?" I gave her a puppy dog look.

She scoffed. "Rosie, you're delusional. The guy's crazy for you!" Crazy, huh? How crazy?

"Wha-what do you mean?" I acted stunned. As if that was any news.

She smiled, glad that I was paying attention. "Rosie… I can tell you like him. But you'd never guess… I think he likes you more than you like him! Bordering on head over heels. Besides, the first sign a guy likes a girl is when he stares at her butt," she shrugged. Okay, I could have gone without that bit of info, but it was nice to know he was interested…

"You really think he likes me? More than I like him?" I asked, faking tentativeness.

"It depends… do you like, really like, _really_ like, or love him?" she asked, grabbing my shoulder. I pretended to think.

"Hmm… I think… I really think I love him, Mai-Mai." For once, I didn't have to feign thoughtfulness as I looked out the window.

"Well it wouldn't matter anyway. I think the guy would take a bullet for you." I flinched. I didn't like the talk of him and guns in the same sentence.

"Huh…" Creepy how spot on she was…

She smirked. "I stole one of Mello-kun's chocolate bars. It's in my purse, if you want it to make you feel better," I was amazed at her pickpocket skills.

"Okay," I said, standing up and trotting off to the guest bedroom, where Andrew was sitting on the bed listening to his i-pod. He looked up at me, and got a strange look on his face when I got out her purse.

"Mai said I could get out a candy bar for us to share," I explained. This only made him more anxious as he craned his neck to see which pocket I was getting into. Huh. Andrew never acted like this. On a normal day, he would have asked if he could have a piece. Shrugging, I pushed aside several planners and makeup sets and found a chocolate bar wrapped in foil. Andrew blinked and I saw his eye twitch as he pinched his nose and played what looked like Pocked God on his i-pod.

My eyes shook as I heard a rough chuckling behind me. I froze. I knew that voice…

Stiffening, I stood up straight and turned toward the door. There were two figures, one of which I recognized all too well.

"Ryuk?"

* * *

**A/N: Ahhahahaha, I'm terrible, aren't I? xD Yus, short, but suspenseful. Any guesses on why Andy was acting up? Hmm? :D Curious to see what you guys come up with! **

**And Kass,, I'm good with chocolate fudge, the Keebler's cookies, with the huge chocolate chips xD**

**Questions for you all; If you had one day left to live, what would you do?**


	27. Catching Up

**A/N: I'm SO BORED… Sorry for the late update, guys.. I kept you waiting too long XD  
To make up for it, this one's long, kks? :D**

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Chapter 27: Catching Up

"Hiya Rose. Long time, no see, huh?" the Shinigami said, crunching into an apple. So _that's_ where they all went! I knew _Matt_ wasn't eating them.

"Uh… hi. Why choose now to show yourself? Can… can Andrew see…?"

"No, he can only see Lawren. He hasn't touched the other Death Note." Ryuk explained. "And I chose now to show up because I'm not your Shinigami; if I hung around you just because I was bored, it would look like you were Kira. I'm on nobody's side here, but that doesn't mean I wanna hurt your chances of winning," he said, swallowing the core. "Amaia can't see me either."

I nodded. "Matt, Take me to the hospital, I'm hallucinating. I think the concussion kicked in late!" I blinked and stared at Ryuk.

"What didjya do that for?" he asked. I kept my eye on the other Shinigami- Lawren- who wasn't talking. It was always the silent ones…

"Matt touched your Death Note once. If he can't see you, I've gone crazy." I said. Andrew was looking at me as if I _were_ crazy.

"Whaddaya mean, hallucinati-" he stopped mid-sentence in the doorway and saw me staring up at the six-foot Death God. "Ryukku?" He blinked.

"Hiya Matty," he said, waving. I rolled my eyes. Ryuk was so carefree. It must be nice knowing you couldn't die.

"Why the hell are you here?" Matt bravely asked. Ryuk _did_ have his Death Note on him, after all.

"Uh… Matt, I've been here for the past three weeks. I just chose not to reveal myself to you guys." He chuckled, looking back and forth between us. "Humans _are_ interesting!"

I groaned. Shinigami are so _useless_. Wait…

"Than that means… you… ugh!" I said, exasperated, walking right through the Shinigami and over to Matt, where I stood steaming at Ryuk. A fake smile was frozen on Matt's face, and his hand was balled into a fist, as if he was actually contemplating punching the Shinigami. I didn't think that was so ridiculous, actually.

"So who are you?" I called into the corner, where Lawren was. She looked up, and Matt jumped at the fact that I was talking to a seemingly empty corner.

"Rose…?"

"That's Lawren," Andrew said for me. Well, that didn't explain how Andrew and I could see her. Wait… the purse… the planners…

"Damn!" I said, running through Ryuk again (who eventually got smart and backed up against a wall), and picked up Mai's purse. Planner, planner, wallet, planner… no Death Note. I sat on the bed, looking for something that could have caused me to see the Shinigami. I looked over to Andrew. "How can you see her?" he shrugged, and went back to his Pocket God game.

Matt sidestepped around Ryuk, giving him a nasty glare, and sat down by me. "Whatcha lookin' for?" he asked, wanting to help.

"Death Note," was all I said. He tensed up. He ran his fingers through his hair, and took off his goggles. I got frustrated and just dumped the purse.

There were lipgloss tubes, several things of lipstick, a dove necklace, a wallet, and three planners. I gave Matt a planner and told him to search it. I ruffled through one, and we both found nothing. I picked up the third one, and shook it out. Nothing. I slumped, but not in defeat. I knew there was something in there, and easy to touch, or I wouldn't be seeing Lawren. I picked up the wallet, and flitted through it. Nothing. But then… What?

Then I actually started looking _inside_ the purse- the pockets, the interior, the exterior- still nothing. I found a bunch of receipts, and I handed those to Matt to look through. When everything was scrutinized, I decided to put the things back in Mai's purse. Matt was still looking through the receipts, when suddenly, he froze, and slowly looked up.

I was about to ask what was wrong, when I realized that he was looking in Lawren's general direction. The receipts… but how had he touched the Death Note by looking through some paper?

The receipts fell to the floor, and Matt scooted a little closer to me. "Matt?" I whispered.

"I think we've found Kira," he said.

I closed my eyes. Of course. This had to be Mai. My best friend had to be the monster that killed my father. True, the actual being who wrote Dad's name in the Note was Shinigami Rem, but Rem was Kira, Misa was Kira, and now Mai was Kira. _Kira_ was Kira. And it didn't matter that my dad was L. I am L now, and dad was L. L is L, no matter who's driving. Near was L for a time, Mello's next in line to be L, and if he refuses, then Matt will be L. But what kills me, is that Mai's _dad_ was L for a time. So why would she deliberately go against what Light believed? It's a given, Dad had stated simply that Light could be Kira, and the grin… the happiness that Light felt when Dad died, that increased his chances of being Kira, but the happiness could be discounted as happiness towards being the next L, and Dad didn't have any solid proof.

But if anything, all suspicions were erased after Light got killed by Kira. Then the killings stopped, yes, but Kira's rested before. When they rested the first time, it was only for about two months, but now it's been almost nine years. Kira could have been just… resting. I just couldn't grasp the possibility that Amaia had anything to do with a Death Note in her purse.

I dropped on my knees and shuffled through the receipts on the floor, and found what I was looking for. Sure enough, a small square of off-white paper, much like Ryuk's paper in his Death Note, now rested in my hands. I felt sick. I was holding a murder weapon.

"Rose…" Andrew warned Matt, seeing my head dip forward. Matt stood up and stood me up, murmuring soft things I couldn't hear into my ear.

"What's going on?" I heard Amaia ask from the doorway. I looked up and tried to fight the tears.

"_You!_" I hissed, pointing. "You're a murderer! You aren't Amaia anymore, you're not my friend." I accused. "You're not even human," I broke free from Matt's arms and pushed past Amaia in the doorway, who had frozen in shock.

"Ah…" Matt stuttered, running his hand through his hair once more, and walking briskly after me. "Rose…!" he called.

* * *

"Rose?" I found her curled up on her bed, a tear in her eye. I felt my stomach drop as I witnessed the fragile girl shudder. "Rose…" I sat down beside her and put my arm around her shaking shoulders. She sniffled a little and buried her face in my shoulder. I fingered the bun she had her hair in while she struggled to maintain her composure.

That wasn't right…

"Rose," I repeated, a little more firmly. She looked up at me, and I said something I never thought I would say again. "Don't pretend to be brave. It doesn't get you anywhere. You want to cry, so just cry. You're not old enough to handle that kind of stress, none of us are," I tried to convince her that crying isn't something to be ashamed of for, I dunno, fifteen minutes, and she just kept shaking her head, until finally she sighed.

"Matt… I can't handle it, you're right. But _L_ can. L has to sit and take everything with no emotion. It doesn't matter who you're friends with; Mai isn't just Mai, Mai is Kira, as well, and I have to consider that when I think of her now. It doesn't matter how close we are; Rose and Mai will always be friends. But L and Kira are mortal enemies. That will never end, change, or move until we're both dead." I cringed. It didn't seem natural for an eighteen year old to think such cryptic things.

"Ro-" I was cut off when she interrupted.

"That's why this is dangerous," She said, indicating the hand that I had placed in hers during the fifteen minute span when she was silent. "I can't get close… to _anyone,_ I just… if I was put in the situation where I had to choose between you and Mello, I would choose you without hesitation, and then hate myself for it afterwards. I just can't allow myself to-"

"Ah… that's enough," I said, silencing her with my finger over her lips. "I will not let anybody so much as touch a hair on your head if they mean to hurt you. Understand?" I then wiped the tears from her eyes and held her head in my hands. I got to her eye level, and our noses touched. "I know this is hard for you, but its okay. Nothing's going to happen. Okay? Amaia's got nothing to do with _us, _got it?" I said, looking her in the eyes. Her hair was now a dark burgundy color, the dye starting to wear off. I waited for her to nod. "Good," I said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek (feeling a thrill that I could openly do so, I might add) before letting her rest her head on my shoulder again. She yawned.

"You're tired," I pointed out.

"It's exhausting having to think about these things," she said. I stroked her shoulder, shushing her.

"Try to get some sleep. Amaia's going home today; you won't have to see her. You don't have to say goodbye, you know, it's not as if it's required of you." She nodded and I felt her breathing slow after a while. I wouldn't be surprised if she had nightmares tonight, regardless of my presence.

I rested my head on hers, and blinked a couple times before closing my own eyes, thinking of what she said.

She was Rose, and Rose was L, and L was a heartless, emotionless robot who solved crimes. But Rose wasn't that. Rose was fun, she was happy, and warm, and nice, and caring and loving… so many words to describe her. But not heartless.

So Rose was L… and not L. She merely played the part of L, while L itself is just a title. Rose went up on stage and pretended to be L; but Rose wasn't L. Rose was Rose. L isn't real; it's just what the world looks to for help when we're in trouble. Funny, how one letter, L, could be so comforting. L's not a person. L's a title that a person has to live up to, no matter what's going on in their own life. L was, in all meanings of the word, justice. Rose was Rose, fulfilling that justice. She was L's pawn.

It was so _unfair._


	28. A Day of Nothing

**A/N: blech. I'm so sore…**

**Squeal~ my readers love me so ^^ and I love them right on back :D **

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Chapter 28: A Day of Nothing

I woke up and, for once, I was alone. It wasn't an unpleasant change, but it was kind of disconcerting to find Matt gone.

I found that I had been tucked in, and I had a flashback of when Dad used to wait for me to fall asleep by the bed. The blanket was pulled up to just under my eyes, and I was lying on my side. I was about to sit up, when I heard a conversation.

"… just let it clear itself up. There's really nothing we can do about it until we have solid… proof." I recognized Mello's voice. Proof… for what? Did they think someone was…?

Then it hit me. Yesterday… Amaia. She was… she betrayed me. She was Kira.

"I know it, Mels," Matt said, leaning back. I noticed they were sitting on the bed. "I just can't watch… They could hurt each other. Easily. And I don't want Rose to get hurt. Mai might get hurt, but Rose will _not._" He made it sound as if he were my guardian. I wasn't too sure if I was proud of it or entertained by that.

"Matt, chill. The worst it could get is a catfight."

"But it's not like its L vs. Kira or anything, no, not at all…" Matt said sarcastically. Mels snorted, I could almost see the eye roll that accompanied it. I yawned, rolling over. Matt shushed him and I felt his hand on my shoulder as I sat up.

"Mornin'," Mello drawled, obviously tired. I rolled my eyes, stretching.

"Hey, you," I said, poking Matt's shoulder. I pretended to remember something. "Why's Mello in my room?" I scratched my head and Mello coughed.

"I wanted to talk to Matt, but I didn't want you to wake up alone," he said. Oh, yeah, that's right. We told Mello about my nightmares. I blinked.

"Thank you, I guess…" That was considerate. "You didn't have to worry about me that much, though."

"Oh, Matt was willing enough to comply," he chuckled. I rolled my eyes as Matt looked away, blushing furiously.

"So… breakfast, anyone?" I asked, hopping out of bed, suddenly thankful that I wasn't wearing chino shorts to bed. Instead, I was wearing a tank top and sweats.

"I could help," Matt said eager for a subject change.

I stretched and yawned. "Sure, but I don't need that much help with popping pancakes in the microwave," I said. He rolled his eyes.

Mello stood up, straightening his leather pants. He wasn't wearing his jacket (for once in his life) and he was wearing a white sleeveless tee-shirt.

"Mello, you eating breakfast, or are you skipping out again?" I asked, honestly curious. I would need to know how many pancakes to cook.

"Naw, he's full on Cadbury's," Matt said for him. I shrugged.

"Alrighty," I said, turning heel and walking to the kitchen, stopping at the bathroom on my way to put my hair up in a ponytail. The hair dye was fading, and now it looked comparable to a red velvet cake. I grinned. Not long before it was comparable to a raven's wing again.

Matt was already in the kitchen when I got there, blowing my bangs out of my face in irritation. Of all things, why couldn't my bangs be at least long enough to put back in a clip or something?

"Took me long enough, I know," I said, pulling out the bag of pre-heatables from the freezer.

"Actually, it wasn't that long," he said shrugging. I grinned and put six little round cakes of blueberry goodness in the microwave.

We ate in comfortable silence, as there was nothing of interest to talk about. Matt commented on the weather, which was pouring by now, and that was pretty much it. I smiled and opened the window, sticking my head out and loving the cool air. Matt, however, recoiled like an injured cat.

"Ugh, do you want to get sick?" he asked, wondering why I loved the wet coldness.

"No, I'm just really hot, and the air conditioner hasn't kicked on yet," I answered simply. He turned his head to I couldn't hear the chuckle I knew he had. Maybe I'd said something, or maybe he'd just remembered a random joke.

So I finally got tired of just standing there like a dog with his head out the window and just gave up, sitting in the window sill. I leaned my head against the wall, and Matt hesitantly sat next to me.

"Don't worry, the porch is too far back; the rain won't splash on your pretty goggles," I teased.

He rolled his eyes. "I just don't want to catch cold," he said.

"Well then, your immune system is safe, too." Not that I wouldn't mind playing nurse; it would be fun to keep him on bed rest and tease him that he couldn't get up. It would kill him, being restricted to his own bedroom (or mine…) and chicken soup.

"I hope so," he said. "I can't stand colds. I guess it's not really the sickness I hate, but more so the stopped up nose!" he shuddered, taking a deep breath, grateful for the fact that he still could breathe through both nostrils. I sat up straight, widening my eyes as my back popped in the process. Ouch…

He glanced at me. "You okay? I heard that from here," he said. Great, now he might be thinking the same thing with the bed rest and chicken soup. All he needed was one good excuse to why I shouldn't be on my feet… At least I was willing to wait untill his actual immune system got attacked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I was just startled that it popped so loud. That's what I get for sitting hunched over a laptop all day," I grimaced.

"Or a book, or a drawing, or a bit of poetry…" he made a list, ticking reasons off on his fingers.

"Hey, I don't write poetry!" I said. He grinned.

"You read Poe, don't deny it. I've seen it on your bedside table."

"That counts as a book," I argued. He rolled his eye.

"Besides that, I saw a little booklet of sheet music, too. So, you're musical?" he asked, crossing his ankles and sitting back, grinning. I swore if I pressed him, he would go make popcorn.

"Only a little," I admitted. "I know major and minor chords, and C and G scale."

"Hmmm, what instrument? You said chord, so it's not a woodwind… guitar, perhaps?"

"Nope."

"Chords… hmm… a special type of drum?" he said, not really convinced I would play drums.

"Not even close."

"Don't tell me its piano?" he asked, widening his eyes.

"Bingo," I grinned. Well, he was gonna find out sooner or later when I tackled a piano in a furniture store. If he was ever cursed with going to a furniture store with me, that is.

"Oh… Well, then. Another piece of the puzzle that is my love, fitted into place."

"Epic cheesiness on your part, Matt." I said, although appearing amused on the outside, I was silently flittering about my mind at the word "love". He had said it so easily! It was like he wasn't as terrified as I was! This was probably the case, but still!

"Ah, I just need to be as tacky as possible so I can get it hammered into your mind," he said, scooting closer and leaning his head on the base of my neck. "Because I love you, Rose. You know, I had a friend once besides Mello, but… the rope broke and I never saw him again." He laughed. I leaned my head on his, smiling to myself.

"You know, I could get used to this," he sighed eventually, after three long, peaceful minutes of watching the rain slowly drip from the trees. The main storm was over, and it was now slightly misting. I moved my hand up to ruffle his hair.

He sat up shaking his hair out, but it was useless. It was now tussled into a fluffy bunch sticking up on the right side of his head.

"Oh, come here," I said, patting it down into a casual disarray; it looked good kind of spiky, but it wasn't "Matt". Instead, he ran his fingers through it until it was back to normal, giving me a "Why would you mess my hair up?" puppy dog eyed glance. I just smiled and put my arms around his neck, nestling into his shoulder. He chuckled and put his arms around my waist, and I shivered. I could almost visualize him rolling his eyes as he stood up, me still in his arms. I squeaked, and pulled myself closer to him as I felt the ground leave beneath me.

"You're cold, and I'm not letting you get sick. Come on," he said, walking into the living room and dumping me on the couch, where Mello glanced up from the TV.

"Uh…?" he asked. "Do I wanna know why you've carried her into the living room?"

"She was sitting in the window and caught a chill. I'll be damned if we have to suffer a boring week or so while she's sick and keeping the party dead." Mello grinned, shaking his head and flicking the TV off.

"Well, it's nice to know that you keep me around 'cause I'm fun," I said sarcastically, sitting up and putting my head on my arms, which were folded across my knees.

"Aw, Rosie, we keep you for more than _fun_," Mello teased. "Well… wait, no, never mind, it's fun to tickle you. We keep you just for the funness." He grinned.

"Funness isn't a word?" I said, more of a question than a statement. He just rolled his eyes. "And don't even think about tickling me; I just woke up, but I know where _your_ weak spot is," I warned. The smug grin left his face and he turned, ever so slightly from me, tucking his right elbow behind his back. Yeah, you'd better hide it. Pressure points were the best place to take somebody down without seriously injuring them.

Matt was watching the whole conversation intently, like a dog watching dinner hoping for a scrap of meat. "What'choo lookin' at?" I asked humorously. He shrugged.

"Catfight," he said suppressing a smile as Mels threatened to smack him. "Mello, lighten up!" he said, ducking out of the way as Mello pawed his hand through the where Matts head used to be, as he had ducked down, laughing hysterically. I took the chance to tackle Mello when he was distracted; it wasn't long before I had the blonde pinned to the ground.

"That's for attempting to smack my boyfriend," I grinned. He widened his eyes.

"Oh?"

"Oh, boy." I sighed, getting off of him.

"Mello, seriously, open your eyes," Matt said, stepping up behind me. "You knew it was coming."

"Uh… yeah, I guess." He said, standing up and scratching his head. "But I didn't expect it to be so soon," he shrugged it off. "Oh well. Not my business," he said, sitting on the couch and leaning back. Matt sat next to him, patting the couch next to him. Yeah, right. I sat on his lap. He seemed surprised, his hands frozen in the air, but as I leaned back into his chest, he seemed to relax, letting his hands fall, one "happening" to land on my leg.

"Ah… okay, I believe you now," Mello looked away with a huge grin on his face. I grinned a satisfactory smile and stood up.

"Well, I'm going to see what I can do with my fluffy powder-puff of a hairball," I said, heading for the bathroom. I groaned as I took out the ponytail; it was a monstrosity. I hopped up on the counter with a brush and prepared for at least thirty minutes of brushing.

* * *

"So…" Mello said, interrupting my explosion of thoughts. I turned my head.

"Huh?"

"You and Rose… its official?" he asked. I sighed, smiling to myself.

"I guess, huh?" I shifted so that I was looking at him. "It just feels so good, you know?" I asked, thinking he would have no idea anyway. He just raised his eyebrows.

"Elaborate," he said. I grinned. At least he had my back. That's the good thing that comes out of being friends since you were about six.

"Ah…" I blew my bangs out of my face. "Where to begin…" I thought for a second. "It's like it's not real," I said. "You don't know what's going to happen next because it's been so unreal. But you know it's very real, you just can't wrap your head around the fact that something so…" I paused, looking for the right word. _"Perfect,_ could be yours. I dunno, compare it to finding a perfect chocolate bar, I guess. It's hard to explain."

"Oh, really, then?" he asked, tilting his head. "Well, I'm happy for you." He patted my shoulder, and we both just laughed. This truly was a lazy day; we didn't have anything to do, we could all just sit around talking about nothing in particular and it wouldn't do anything. A day of nothing. It was nice.

I wandered into my room for a change of clothes; the usual red striped shirt and jeans. I stretched and sat on my bed, snatching up my Nintendo and a cigarette. I was about to get to the final arena when I got a little notification on the bottom screen.

_Lawlipop wants to battle your Mudkip with their Richu!_

I grinned. She was probably sitting in her room, waiting to ambush me with Pokémon. I hit "confirm" and settled down for a very long Pokémon battle.


	29. It's Raining Today

**A/N: And to think, this whole thing started out with a RolePlay…**

**Thanks to all you guys~ I love each and every one of you! Heads up: BIG action coming up in the next couple chappies, involving a certain raven-haired, red eyed man…**

* * *

Chapter 29: It's Raining Today

We were watching one of Matt and my favorites, Stephen King's The Green Mile, and Rose hadn't seen it yet.

We were flicking through the channels and Matt saw it was about to come on, so he set the channel. When Rose asked what it was about, I couldn't help but stare; this movie was an awesome one. True, it was on the… strange side, but it was still the only emotional movie I could stand to sit through.

So now, here we sat, with the lights out and the TV on, with Matt lying behind Rose with his arms around her waist on the couch, and me sitting on the chair, curled up with a chocolate bar.

One of the only reasons I could watch this movie: In the beginning, the old man reminded me somewhat of Watari. Plus, when he's telling the story, and you get a flash back of his life, he's an executioner. It's nothing too gory… only two or three killings were in the whole movie, and that's just the electric chair.

So we laughed at the funny parts, which were mainly most of the beginning, and we were really quiet at the tense parts. When Percy came into the story, Rose raised her eyebrows, and I heard Matt mutter "Prick," under his breath. He was awarded with a firm yet amused glare from Rose. I stifled a chuckle.

Percy's name fit him perfectly; he was a worthless jack-ass who thought just because his daddy was the governor or mayor or whatever, he could tell everybody what to do. This, according to Paul, or Tom Hanks, was dead wrong.

"_The man is mean, stupid, and careless. Bad combination in a place like this," _he said. I whole heartedly agree. Its little jerks like Percy who reminded me of Near. Though, I had to admit, their personalities were nothing alike. It's just the whole "I gotta be on top" thing.

When we got to the part about Dale and the rat, Rose was grinning ear to ear. I didn't really pay attention to the two of them, but Matt was whispering in her ear, and she was smiling, whispering back. The corner of my mouth twitched. If I were the type of guy to go out looking for "sweet" things, I would have stopped my search right here.

Rose was giggling when Wild Bill got introduced. He was a psycho, the true definition of the word. He beat up several of the guards, and then when they finally got him in a cell, he proceeded to hang off the ceiling like a wild animal. They told him they would give him booze if he would calm down, and that shut him up right away. I rolled my eyes. This guy was one of the main reasons I got a kick out of this movie; he was hilarious. In a sick, psycho sort of way, but funny nonetheless.

When it was at the part when Dale's execution ceremony was being held, Rose's eyes widened. I saw her turn her head.

"They can't kill Dale, can they?" she whispered to Matt. "He's too funny!"

"Rose, they have to, he's on Death Row," he whispered back. She widened her eyes and turned back to the TV. I could tell she wasn't expecting it when Percy didn't wet the sponge, and he wasn't killed fast and painlessly, like these things should go. She just stared in shock, and her eyebrows knitted together in horror.

"That man… he belongs in a mental ward!" she said, half hushed, shaking her head, and turning her face halfway away from the TV, before deciding that she had to watch what happened next. I understood her confliction; it was like watching as a dog guts a rabbit; it's disgusting and intriguing at the same time.

"Funny you said that," I said. She looked up at me, and I grinned. She turned to Matt for an answer, but he just shook his head, and patted her shoulder.

"All in good time," he said. She suspiciously eyed him, and turned back to the screen. The bad part was over, for now.

The rest of the movie went by uneventfully, save for the occasional whispered conversing between Matt and Rose. When John Coffey used his "gift" to heal Melinda Moores, the Warden's wife, who had a brain tumor, we were so silent it was eerie.

At the end, when the last execution took place, Rose had to hide her face in Matt's chest, and completely stop liking at the TV. Her shoulders were shaking, and I could tell she was crying. Matt blinked a few times before bringing his hand up to her arm, gently rubbing it to try to get her to calm down. Instead, I just watched the TV, blinking.

I could tell why it was considered a "heartfelt movie". But I didn't feel a lump in my throat, as they all say you get when you feel like you're about to cry. Instead, I felt indifferent.

The man, Paul, had killed one of God's greatest creations, or at least that's how they phrased it in the movie. As punishment, that man would live longer than he should. Most people would see that as a good thing; to live well over double your original lifespan.

But it's not a good thing; to live for next to forever, you'd have to watch your friends, family, loved ones, all die. And watch their kids grow old, have kids, and eventually die. You'd die around the time your great great grandchildren were born. That would be the worst thing imaginable to have to suffer through. For me, anyway.

When the credits came on, I ventured a glance in their direction. Rose was still curled into his chest, and her arms were around his neck, as she looked over his shoulder, a sober-ish look in her eyes, and they were whispering to each other. It was too quiet, I didn't hear. Besides, I don't eavesdrop, anyway. I smiled and stood up, stretching.

"Jeez, Rose, it's just a movie," I said. A Stephen King one at that.

She sniffed, looking up at me. Only, the way she was attached to Matt with her arms around his neck, looking back up at me, kind of where her face was upside-downish, it made it look like she had just pulled out of a kiss. "I know," she said defensively. "It's just that it was a very good one," she shrugged, putting her head back on Matt's shoulder. He rolled his eyes, and looked at me.

"Girls," he mouthed. I grinned.

Sitting up, he shifted her so that she was comfortably balanced on his knee. I walked over and sat on the couch next to them.

"So, what didjya think of the movie?" I asked.

She blinked and looked at me. "It was sad," she said, looking at the TV, which was still currently running the credits. "Although I wasn't expecting Percy to actually go to an insane asylum at the end…" she raised her eyebrows in amusement. Matt chuckled again and stood up.

"Okay, time for bed," he said in a fatherly tone. I'm assuming he did that on purpose.

"Aww," she mocked. "But I'm not-" she stifled a yawn.

"Yes, you are," he grinned, ruffling her hair. She pouted. I raised my eyebrows.

"Rose, the more you act delirious, the more tired you seem," I tried to help. She glared at me before finally just laughing it off. I smiled and helped her up, where Matt put his hand on hers and blinked, robotically pulling her thumb out of her mouth.

"What?" she complained. "It helps me think!"

"You're gonna ruin your thumb," he said. "And you don't need to be thinking that much so late! It'll give you a headache," he scowled. She returned the favor.

"What?" she turned her head as I chuckled.

"I could watch you guys bicker all night," I said. "But it's 10:30, so… I'm going to bed. 'Night," I said, shaking my head and turning down the hall.

* * *

"Rose?" I poked my head in the living room. Empty. What the hell?

She was gone when I woke up, and I only woke up because the rain hitting the window was loud enough to hear through the pillow. I blew my bangs out of my face in annoyance. I didn't have the time for dealing with not being able to see.

I stalked into Mello's room, yanking the covers off of him. He sat up straight, panting from the unexpected chill in late January, and clutched at the blanket. He looked around, saw me, and ran a hand through his hair.

"… The Hell?"

"I need your help. Rose's not in the house," I said in a pleasant tone, taking his pillows and tossing them as far away from the bed as I could get them.

He groaned as I pried the blanked out of his fingers and then he just lay there, shirtless and shivering.

"Fine," he grumbled. "I'm sure she's somewhere around here," he said stalking to his dresser and pulling out a shirt and grabbing his jacket from a chair.

He was still pulling on his jacket when I shoved him down the hall, ignoring his protests. "Hey!" he dug his heels into the carpet, trying uselessly to stop me from throwing him into the kitchen.

"What about my gloves?" he wrung his wrists anxiously and turned around, trying to see past my shoulder.

"You get your gloves when we find Rose," I said. I wasn't too worried about her being hurt, because I knew she wouldn't be as idiotic to leave the house in the pouring rain. And my car was still in the driveway, so she was definitely here. Mello would have been out the window, shirt or no shirt, if he so much as heard his bike's kickstand move. So no doubt in my mind, Rose was here.

I wanted help because… when Rose wanted to be hidden… She was harder to find than a white Easter egg in a chicken coop. A twelve story chicken coop, to be exact, with about a billion eggs being laid a minute. So, all in all, if I could, I'd have the entire SPK team on her tail, I would. But right now it was only Mels and I, and I figured we'd better get started immediately.

Dawn was just cracking the clouds, and the sight of the sun just barely peering out from the trees, hard enough to see through the drizzle as it was, made me stop to look out the window for a few seconds as I heard Mello shuffle through the house to no avail. I'd told him she wasn't inside, but he insisted on me waiting for him to at least check the house once more before we went to go get soaked. Our luck, she took the only umbrella.

I had time to pour myself two glasses of milk before Mello gave up.

"Let's go freeze our asses off," Mello grumbled, grabbing a chocolate bar and pulling a hood over his head. I grinned and put my goggles over my eyes. This was why I loved my vest so. Fur did wonders for the freezing body when you're getting soaked.

I calmly plodded through the rain behind Mello, as he stomped through the puddles with his arms crossed. Lucky for me, I was smart enough to duck _under_ the tree branches and didn't get anywhere near as soaked as Mello did.

We didn't bother calling her name; if she wanted to be hidden, for whatever reason, hearing that we were looking for her would make her hide even better.

Rose was an expert of hiding in the shadows, even if there were no shadows to hide in. Give her a box and an armchair… she'll be invisible within minutes if she tried.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice Mello had stopped. Well, I didn't see it, either, 'cause I was looking at the ground as I walked, so I ran into him, falling back and landing on my butt. Mels looked behind him, staring at my disgruntled expression, before forgetting our rainy, cold, freezing situation entirely and a wide grin spread across his mouth and he chuckled and helped me up.

I grimaced as I twisted myself around to look down at the back of my jeans; I had gotten mud all down the back of my right pant leg. Mello mock punched my shoulder.

"See? It's karma. You drag your friend out in the rain, you ruin an article of clothing. There's your girlfriend, by the way," he said, pointing behind his shoulder. So _that's_ what he stopped for. I looked around him, and groaned.

Was she suicidal?

She was just standing there, staring at the sunrise. She had an umbrella, sure; but she was holding it almost as if she had forgotten it was there, dragging the ground. Drops of rain made her already dark red hair even darker, and it looked almost as if it had gone back to its original black. For a second, all I could do was stare at her.

Her already thin tank top clung to her thin frame, and I scowled at her. She left without a coat, or at least a jacket. Her sweatpants, brown and muddied at the bottom from walking through mud, stopped at her ankles to reveal (get this) bare feet. Somehow her feet were cleaner than the hems of her pants. She had her thumb to her lip, though not in her mouth. It was just resting on the corner of her lip. She hiccupped, and I saw her blink, before looking down at her feet, seeming only now to notice the umbrella, and, much to my aggravation, regarded it as if it were merely just there to look at, and set it ever so gently on the ground. Was she mental? She was asking for a wicked sickness to just… devour her, basically. I could already see her wrapped in a blanket with a thermometer in her mouth.

I noticed all this in maybe about thirty seconds, before Mello made a move to go retrieve her. I put my hand on his shoulder to hold him back and began jogging across the muddy area of grass.

"Rose!" I called, when I was about halfway there. She didn't seem to hear me. "Rose!" I called again. No response.

I shook my head and picked up the pace, stopping a few feet from her. I stripped off my vest, revealing my own short sleeve tee-shirt. I stepped up to her, and she turned her head as I put it around her shoulders.

"Matt?" She blinked. "What are you doing here?" she asked calmly.

"I'm going to choose not to ask you the same," I responded, bending down to grab the umbrella and pulling her shivering form closer to me underneath it. Mello had begun to walk closer to us, mainly because he wanted to get under the umbrella, and we met halfway across the lot.

"Why'd you come out here?" he asked incredulously. "Don't tell me you wanted to enjoy the view."

She shrugged. "I needed to-" she sneezed. Well, whoop de do. "… Needed to think."

"Needed to think…" I mused. "The least you could do was put up the umbrella," I said. Mello raised his eyebrows at my growl. I understood why, too; I wasn't usually this rough sounding when I was talking to her. But I was pissed, dammit!

"Uh…" she stuttered. Well, at least she understood that I was mad at her.

"You could have caught hypothermia, Rose," I explained, "especially in January! What were you _thinking?_" I pulled her in closer to me in a one-armed bear hug. I wasn't sure if I was more worried or angry with her.

"I… I'm sorry," She said softly. Aw, crap. I'd never heard her this… exposed, raw. _Weak. _

"Hmm…" I rubbed her back to help get her warm, and Mello looked at me levelly. What, he thought I would yell at her? I might raise my voice, but I would never do anything to induce crying.

She put her arms around me, and I put one of mine around her shoulders, my other hand holding the umbrella. Mello was ripping his candy bar wrapper into bits and pieces.

I sighed. I couldn't stay mad at her. "Fine," I said. "But when we get in, the first thing I'm going to do is personally pour three cans of tomato soup town your throat."

* * *

**A/N: It's finally done! And two eight hundred sixty four words! Woot! I'm so proud of myself XD**

**And Yeah… To make up for the long wait, it's SUPER long :D**


	30. Chicken Soup for the Soul

**A/N: Hay guys. Try to put up with spelling mistakes; Microsoft word won't let me open it, so I have to write on Word Pad. **

* * *

Chapter 30: Chicken Soup for the Soul

"It's actually a good book, really," I laughed. Of all people, _Matt_ was the one to get sick. And I had stood out there barefoot.

"Aw, shut up," he grumbled around his spoon. I had forced him to lay down, even though he insisted all he needed was air. It didn't help that he couldn't say a complete sentence without sniffling. He was now surrounded by my fluffy quilt and curled around a bowl of chicken noodle.

I giggled. "It's okay, Matty," I said in a tone an adult would use with a baby. "It's just a cold."

"It's just little germs crawling around inside of me," he sniffled sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.

"Little germs are _always_ crawling around inside of you."

"Ugh," he shuddered. "Don't remind me."

"At least some of them are good germs!" I said, ruffling his hair. He rolled his eyes, this time.

"No germ," he said firmly holding back a sneeze, "is a good germ."

"Yeah, they are." I grinned. "The ones that help you _breathe _are good germs!"

_"_Blood cells are not germs."

"What about atoms?"

"Atoms are atoms."

"Molecules?"

"Not alive. Doesn't bother me."

"You're impossible!" I exclaimed.

He smiled a tired smile, and I could just start to make out bags under his eyes. To add to my amusement/annoyance, he yawned.

Ah... speaking of annoyance...

I would still feel a little like a small child who had narrowly avoided a spanking around Matt for a while. I could tell he was more than a little mad when I went out in the rain. But it wasn't _my _fault. I just wanted to see something. I'd never seen a sun rising while it was raining. I wanted to watch.

But... it _was_ amusing. He cared, truly deeply cared, so much that he would get mad if I (willingly so, I might add) put myself subject to anything less than perfect health. It made me smile to know he cared that much.

"Good," he said. "It means I haven't lost my edge." He grinned a lopsided smile, looking more like the twelve year old I had met so long ago than I'd seen him since. I scooted closer to him on the bed, putting my hand on his shoulder. He blinked, and looked at me so damn innocently I had to laugh. I took his bowl and put it on the sidetable and pushed him down on the bed.

"Sleep." He groaned. "Too bad, you're tired. You'll only get sicker," I prodded.

He glared playfully at me before shaking his head and rolling on his side. I lay down behind him, idly tracing the hen on his shirt. The house was quiet; Mello was out.

"Hey, Rose?" he asked suddenly, turning his head. I looked up.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks," he said. I propped myself up on my elbow, putting my head on his shoulder, looking at his face.

"For what?"

"For being there," he sighed. I put my hand on his cheek.

"How high's your fever again?" I joked. He grinned.

"See? That's what I mean. If it were up to Mels, he'd visit me with food and a gas mask once every few hours. I'm not kidding," he said when I started giggling.

"Well, thank God I was here when you got sick. Though I'm probably the reason why you're sick in the first place," I grinned.

"You _are!_" he agreed.

I rolled my eyes. "Sleep," I ordered. "Get better. I'm tired of settling for kissing you on the cheek."

"It's been two days."

"Exactly my point. Hurry and let your white blood cells or whatever kill the bad bugs. 'Kay?"

He sighed. "Fine."

* * *

I was almost positive this was a flashback.

Except I was watching it in third person, watching as Rose, Mels and I sat on the grass laughing around a pile of candy.

It was Halloween, I remembered; Rose was wearing a long sleeved black shirt, long black jeans and a head band with Neko cat ears on it. She had asked me to draw whiskers on her cheeks and make a kitty nose on the tip of hers with marker. She had a tail sticking out of her shirt at the bottom, and back then we had thought it was pretty realistic. Now, looking back on it, I think, not sure, it was just a bunch of fluffy cloth stuffed with more fluffy cloth. And it did look pretty cool; more realistic than I would have thought of when I was nine.

Mello was a pirate; he had Roger buy him a hat, and he was just wearing the usual boots. I'm not sure where he got the costume, he never told us, but it was pretty realistic; the felt, the leather (of course) and the tassles looked like they had come out of a Pirates of the Carribbean movie. Of course, Roger wouldn't let him go as far as to get a fake hook for his hand, so he made a sword out of foam.

I myself was Spider Man. It was nothing fancy, just a storebought costume. But I had a secret.

I remembered the gloves, which were ordinary, and I still think it was funny how I had 'altered' them to spray silly string. And the mask; the eyes had a little bit of my 'hacking' skills in it too. They now could zoom up to 50x the original viewpoint. Perfect for longdistance stalking. Or spotting which house was the best for trick-or-treating.

We loved Halloween; it was the one day that we were allowed out of Wammy's past curfew. It was also said to be the elusive L's birthday.

Of course, back then, Mello and I didn't know Rose's dad was L. We didn't even make the connection between her necklace and our idol. Well, you could buy L merchandise off the internet, so we didn't think much of it.

But still, it was real silver. We should have at least suspected...

Anyway.

I didn't know why the dream meant so much. But whatever it was... it gave me a warm feeling. Like a really sentimental fuzzy spot in the pit of my stomach. Watching us... playing, laughing. It made me remember things I never thought I would remember. I liked it. It was... nice.


	31. Out

**A/N: I've gotten to the point where I can finally think about what I'm doing as I listen to music. It makes writing a little less boring x3**

**You have NO IDEA how hard it is not to use chatspeak in a fanfiction. I can't tell you how many times I almost wrote "xD" or "LOL" in this thing. *sighs* oh well.**

**BTW, who notices the fact that Light's like Jigsaw from Saw? In the whole 'ridding the world of useless ppl' thing. True, Jiggy let one person live; Light let Misa live, so BLEH! *sticks out tongue***

* * *

Chapter 31: Out

I sighed. This was... this was my life.

I came.

I saw.

I killed.

The life of Kira was a lonely one. It was even harder when the person who was your best friend (key word _was_) told you that you weren't even _human. _

I was set up in my room with a TV and a police radio in my room, and the Death Note on my bedside table. I didn't spend hours over the book, I just flicked on the radio or maybe the TV when I felt bored. Like now.

And I felt terrible.

It was like I was being forced to slash people's throats... by somebody else's hand. It was... disgusting. But it had to be done, and I was the only one to do it.

Who else would be willing to murder?

_The people who you're executing, silly,_ the little sadistic beast inside me said. _If they didn't murder, you wouldn't have to. You're doing the world a favor._

Shut up. Shut up, shut up, _SHUT UP!_

There's nothing I can do. I'm a monster, almost as much of a Shinigami as Lawren is. I wonder if this is how Mom felt. I was taking over the position of the beast who had killed my father. This... this demon, the evil force that was murdering people, innocent or not.

* * *

I woke up to a hand brushing my hair behind my ear.

"Hey, there," Matt said softly. I smiled up at him.

Yeah, so his fever was gone. But Mello was still puting up the quarentine circumstances. That or he just really needed to get out of the house this week. He'd been in and out for the past three days. I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that it was only a week 'til Matt's birthday. And I prayed to God he didn't do anything as big as they did for mine. Ugh.

Don't get me wrong, I wanted to throw a huge fling, well, huge by my standards. That would consist of, what, alchohol and coffee cake? That's just about as creative I can get on short notice. Maybe it's a good idea Mello does all the planning... heh heh...

"Hey yourself," I said, stretching. "What time is it?"

He glanced at the clock. "Congradulations. You finally slept in. It's nine thirty."

"That's late by my usual schedule," I grinned.

"I know."

I yawned and sat up, shivering slightly at the cool air above the blanket. "So," I said laughingly, "what's for breakfast?"

"Uhh..." he sat up. I giggled.

"Right, you weren't expecting that, were ya?"

"...Nope." He smiled.

I stood up. "Well, you're in luck. I'm craving banana cereal. C'mon," I grabed his arm and pulled him out of the bed. He whimpered.

"But it's _cold,_" he said, collapsing on the hardwood floor.

"It's colder on the floor. Get up," I played. He didn't respond, just rolled over and put his arm over his eyes.

"So tired..." I heard his muffled groan into his arm. He looked up at me. "How do you do it?"

"What, wake up?" I asked. "Well... first I open my eyes..." I squeaked as his hand shot out to grab my wrist, pulling me down onto the floor.

He had impeccable aim, whereas I landed on his chest.

"I'll never get tired of this," he breathed into my shoulder. I blinked. So very sudden, so very _enjoyable._

"Gosh, I hope not," I said, kissing his cheek. "Because I'm going to get cereal. You coming?" I stood up. I love teasing him!

He looked at me like I just smacked a puppy. And he was the puppy. I giggled as he stood up.

"Rose," he sighed, "I'm so lucky you put food before kissing. I would starve if it weren't for you."

"Aw, don'tcha know it?" I flicked his nose and almost skipped down the hall. He followed... not as "enthusiastic" as I was, but when I was hungry, I had energy. At least until the bowl was in my hands, then I was beat.

"All too well," he laughed behind me.

"Hey, Matt?" I asked, pouring the milk over my frosted flakes. "You want some?"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not. My buzz is killed, I might as well eat."

I Raised my eyebrow, putting the bowl down. "Your _buzz is killed_?" I asked, walking up to him. I felt a strange jitterey feeling in my chest as I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. "You sure about that?"

He froze, and then I felt his breathing pick up. He swallowed, and I heard him chuckle.

"You caught me."

"Ha." I smirked, returning to my cereal. I grabbed a second bowl and pushed mine to him.

"Thanks," he said, lifting the spoon.

I nodded, pouring the milk to my new bowl.

"Where's Mello?" he wondered idly.

"Who knows," I shrugged, crunching into the cereal. Ugh. Needed more suger. I pulled a face and made my was to the cabinet, getting out the sugarbowl.

* * *

I watched, amused, as she put at least eight spoonfuls of sugar in her cereal before I put my hand on hers.

"You're going to have less milk than sugar. Chill," I rolled my eyes.

She blinked, and looked down at her hand. "Honestly," she said, "I forgot I was putting sugar in my cereal. I just..." she shook her head and blinked again.

"Well, stop spacing out, cadet," I said formally. "Mello's had his fun; when he gets home, we're gonna be out, too." I grinned, and she raised her eyebrow.

"Oh? When were these plans made?"

"I got bored last night, so I thought I should treat you to a trip to the mall," I shrugged.

"Bored, huh?" she joked. "Glad to know I'm entertaining."

"_Very," _I emphasized. "This was after you fell asleep." She nodded.

"So, when we going?"

"Get dressed," I grinned. She blinked. She did that a lot...

"Now?"

"_Go, go go go!" _I urged, ushering her into the hall.

"Fine, jeez." I watched as she flusteredly half-walked half-skipped into her room. I now had time to get dressed myself and look for my keys.

My keys.

_Crap._ Those were probably in the pocket of a long forgotten pair of jeans in the bottom of the deepest depths of my closet.

Or I could try looking where they _should_ be first. Usually, every time I look for them, they're in the last place I would think to look; where they're supposed to be.

See, I'm learning.

I ducked into my room and picked out a pair of jeans and a Black Veil Brides shirt. It was sick. Pure black with a single red rose on it, along with the slogan "BVB" underneath it. Only when I had it on did I notice the resemblance between my shirt and Rose's name. I sniffed before letting out some laughter. That wasn't done on purpose, I swear!

* * *

**A/N: That was done on purpose. Matty lies. :D **

* * *

On my way out the door, I noticed my Nintendo laying on my pillow. I grinned and allowed it to suck me into the world of Pokemon. I only looked up when Rose knocked on my door.

"Gosh, for someone to rush me that much-" she opened the door. "Hey! You just wanted to get rid of me so you could play your DS! Nice shirt," she said, walking over and sitting on my lap to see what I was playing.

"No!" she said as I selected Palkia. "That's a psychic you're battling. Don't use Palkia. Use that Dark Rapidash you have. It'll work better."

I paused the game. "Uh... I've been trying to catch this beast for a week. You think just trying a random Poke-"

"Just use it," she urged. I rolled my eyes and selected the Rapidash.

"If this randomly selected Pokemon just so happens to work y chance against-" I dropped my cigarette. No shit! It won! In two rounds!

That was luck. Pure luck.

Rose smirked and stood to retrieve my smoke, which she experimentally sniffed at before reeling back disgustedly.

"You even think about picking up smoking and I will kill you before cancer does," I said firmly. "I'm addicted, I may as well be wearing a walking noose."

She levelly met my gaze before putting out my cigarette, much to my protest. "Then quit," she said simply. I felt a muscle in my face twitch.

"Not that... easy, Rose..."

"Try," she said stubbornly, with a grin. Ah, so it was one of _those_ mind games.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "Come on, I wanna be at the mall having a blast before Mello gets home. I have no idea where he keeps heading off to, but I want him to know how incredily empty the house can feel." She laughed at my jokingly serious tone.

"Oh, yes, it's extremely _boring," _she emphasized, making me feel about two inches tall.

"I said you were sleeping. If anything it proves how..." I trailed off, and she giggled ominously. I turned my blushing face away from her. Jeez, if we kept having awkward conversations, my face would be redder than my hair.

That was saying something.

I was almost wincing as I looked at the key rack beside the door. Here goes nothing. I opened my eyes to fine...

No keys.

Rose cleared her throaght. "Looking for something?" she reached behind me and pulled my keys out of my back pocket. Oh, look at that... ah, ha ha ha... Yeah...

I sheepishly took the keys from her hand. "Yeah, thanks..."

We got into the car, and I thanked the sweet god above that Rose understood the concept of hopping over a door that may as well not even be there. See? A second person added to my party meant Mello was the freak there.

We were driving down the road, and Rose was leaning back, sporting a pair of silver and black _striped_ sunglasses. I smiled. She looked like one of those Cola commercials, with the girls at the beach all relaxed and watching like amused little cats as the guys struggled to attain their attention for more than five minutes. Girls played sick, sick mind games.

I was like Andrew, in a way. I agreed in the fact that the only thing guys were to women were pieces of meat and bone tossed between the lionesses. But here, as we took the longer, traffic void backroad, she really looked... pretty. She had her hair up ino a messy bun, and she was wearing a grey and white striped long sleeve shirt with pre-ripped jeans. Just her outfit screamed "I'm going to buy as much as my boy's wallet allows, and you can't stop me!" I grimaced. Should I give her my wallet, credit card and all, and pray she doesn't blow it all?

One penny. That's all I wanted to be saved. One measly cent. Prove that females aren't pushed to buy everything they see. Save a penny!

I was chuckling by the time we got to the mall. "Woodland Hills", it said in nice, fancy letters.

"Okay, ground rules," I said ans she got out. "No perfume stores, and if you go into one, don't drag me along. Same thing applies with personal clothing and whatnot. Also, try to save _some_ money, 'kay?" I asked desperately, handing her a wad of 20's. She burst out into laughter for some reason. What?

"Matt... I have my own money, you know. I'm not a social outcast." She pulled her own pink and black zebra wallet ot of her jacket pocket. "I've got exactly one hundred and twenty three dollars, fifty cents." Ha, ha, that was more than I was gonna give her!

"Well, looks like I'll be able to get something, after all!" I said half to myself.

"Silly Matty. I've still got to get your birthday present, which I'm almost certain that's what Marshmello's doing at this moment. It would hardly be a gift if your money was what bought it. Besides, I'm not a leech," she stuck her tongue out at me playfully, and I rolled my eyes before walking into the mall with her.

* * *

**A/N: Lol, I almost wrote LMAO at the "Not a social outcast" part. x3**

**I let it all out in my author's notes... **

**I DEEPLY SINCERELY APOLOGIZE TO MOONY AT LEAST FOR MAKING HER WAIT EXCRUCIATINGLY LONG. The poor beta's suffering over a fluffyful chappie that will come later. :3**

**Also, three cheers for AN's in the middle of the story~**


	32. Fun at the Mall

**A/N: I'm sitting here writing at 5:00. I'm a nut :P**

**Hey guys.. sorry for the double update :o As this says, it was 5:00 AM when I updated. Sorry =/**

**I was seepy :D**

* * *

Chapter 32: Fun at the Mall

"How's this?" she asked, stepping out from the room. I turned from the clothes rack that I was scouring for some decent pants.

The pants she had tried on certainly fit her well. The dark denim blue suited her, and the slim cut jeans made her slighter form look even tinier. I smiled.

"They look good. Now get over here, help me find a pair of pants that aren't littered in _rips_," I sighed and shook my head.

"Matt?" she asked, poking my shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"You're in the pre-ripped section. Hurr durr."

I sighed. "I know that, I want a pre-rip. Just not covered. Maybe one, _one_ just below the knee. Or I could just drag these on the road behind my car, it seems like it would be _easier!_" I indicated the jeans I was wearing.

She sighed and gave me a 'you-have-so-much-to-learn' look. Oh, joy, the shopper's apprentice. I believe that was a movie once, wasn't it?

She bent down, fingered through the forest of blue, and pulled one out, matching the description I had given her perfectly. Damn you females and your need to make shopping guys feel a centimeter tall!

The rest of the day went on like that, only flitting across the store instead of lingering by the pants.

We were walking when she stopped suddenly and pawed through the pile of clothes that were now the clearance rack.

"Oh! Looky here," she pulled out a pink robe. "I thought all the good stuff would be gone for sure." Gone? There were plenty of good t-shirts in there. Women.

After turning the robe over, she finally shook her head and just tossed it back in the pile. "Ah, I have one at home, I just never use it," she shrugged. So then... that was pointless? Honestly, help me out, I'm clueless as to what the shopping woman is thinking.

She finally led me to a little sunglasses koisk. "Stay," she ordered. "I have to go across the store to get your you-know-what and then Mello's gonna come pick it up so you don't see it. Or them," she pulled me down on a bench. "You'd better not move an inch," she more demanded than warned.

I decided to be a smart-ass. "I wanna buy a pair of sunglasses. Whatever shall I do?"

She facepalmed. "Then buy a frikkin pair of glasses. Just don't follow me, and stay where I can locate you when I come back, 'kay?" she said, exasperated. I chuckled, standing up to hug her.

"Okay, I won't follow you." I wasn't gonna say anything about her second wish. I didn't see an arcade _anywhere_. This was the accessory part of the mall, after all.

She glared at me, staring up through my goggles, amd finally sighed, pointing. "Arcade's that way," she said, resigned. I pecked her on the cheek before almost jogging in the direction she had pointed.

"Thanks!"

* * *

"Your welcome," I said, shaking my head. He was just so... what was the word...

Immature? Childlike? ADHD influenced? Possibly.

Mine? Absolutely.

That's why I sent him to get distracted in his own little video gaming, hyper-active, seizure inducing heaven, I went to get him a present I knew he would like.

Well, truth be told, Mello called me in the dressing room and told me what to get. He was home, and we weren't, so he assumed either A) Matt had gone to get us both drunk [WRONG] B) We went to a stupid movie and had a romantic dinner together [MEGA WRONG] or C) I had dragged him to the mall [WINNER!]

So I headed right for the isle I wanted, picked out the item of choice, and went out front to wait for Mel's bike after calling him. And when he did pull around the corner, I stood up, for I was sitting on a bench, and waved my arms so he could see me.

"I feel like an FBI or something, transporting something in secret from the president. Why the hype? Can't I just have them wrap it up or something?"

"Nope," he said, grinning and taking the box. "I'll 'fix it up' when I get back to the house."

"Ah... customization. Got it. OH!" I said before he drove off, " I forgot!" I tossed him a Hersey's Special Dark chocolatebar.

He looked at the chocolate. "Sweet," he said, grinning.

"Very," I agreed. I gave him a one-armed hug. "I gotta go, Matt's gonna melt his brain on the Dance Dance Revolution machine. See ya!" I turned back inside as the bike sped off.

* * *

**A/N: Short chappie, I know, but I had to make sure you guys knew Mello and Rose were accomplices :D Plus I have to post this before I miss the bus :L**


	33. Eager

**A/N: Again, sorry for the double-post mix-up last chappie. If you haven't already, go back and read what SHOULD have been there the first time. **

**Sorry! Although a PM would have been nice...**

* * *

Chapter 33: Eager

_Left... left... up... double... double... le-_

"Hey! What gives?" the kid next to me cried out as the screen went blank.

"You've been tearing up the Dance Dancemachine since you got here _two hours_ ago, Matt. Can we go now?" Rose had unplugged the machine, the plug-in twirling in her hands. I hung my head in defeat.

"Fine," I said. "But I almost beat my high score, and..." I stopped when she fixed me with a hard glare. "That's sad how intimidating you are," I said, blinking.

She grinned. "Whatever," she said, walking past me and out of the arcade. I had no choice but to leave too.

At first I walked behind her, the whole "Embarassed to be causht in the mall with a girl" scenario, until I caught sight of a group of guys that kept looking at Rose. They were just talking, and glancing, but I didn't like it. I overheard one say "But she looks smart. It wouldn't do to have a girl up in my buisiness. It's best to have an idiot."

I slunk a little closer to their group, curious to see what they would say.

"But, she's like... _hot!_ Go for it!"

"Uh, no. We don't even know how old she is."

"Old enough to drink, I bet. You wanna ask?"

By now the boy who had brought up the subject of Rose was blushing like a madman. I looked at Rose, and ignored what they said for that moment. Could she really be oblivious to this conversation?

One guy stood up, and I moved toward Rose and put my hand in hers. Clear enough signal?

"Matt?" she asked at my suddenness. I just shook my head and lightly tugged on a strand of hair that was coming out of her bun.

"Food court?" I asked hopefully. She shrugged.

"Sure." Thank God. I was beginning to think she was safe nowhere.

I put my arm around her shoulders, smirking. "Okay, it's on me. My idea, I buy. What'll it be, Sonic, Chick Filet, Mikey D's..."

"Smoothies!" She ducked under my arm and pulled her wallet out of her purse.

"Smoothies..." I shrugged, calmly walking behind the sugar-deprived girl. "I said I'd buy," I protested as she handed the cashier a ten.

"But it's my food," she said. "You buy yours."

I rolled my eyes. "My idea, therefore technically it's my food, I'm just sharing."

"That's a greedy way to put it," she laughed.

"It's a way to keep you from paying," I grinned.

"Oh, well, too late," she said, taking the strawberry smoothie from the guy behind the counter. "I bought it," she took a sip and headed for a bench. I handed him a ten of my own and bought a blueberry swirl.

I glanced over to Rose, who was now thoughtfully playing with the straw and staring... at me.

"What?"

She blinked, as if she were waking up, and lifted her head, which was resting in her hand. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Nothing. You were staring off into space. Again." I grinned, sitting down on the bench next to her.

"I was?" she asked.

"Yep. What is it with you?"

"Nothing, I'm just... thoughtful today."

No durr.

"You sure you're oka-" she silenced me with a kiss on the cheek. Alrighty.

"I'm fine. Let's go, I wanna see what Mello did to your present," she stood up and dragged me along by the arm. So it was something Mels wanted to work on. Question was, what was it?

"You're not gonna tell me what it is, are ya?"

"Stick around, you'll find out."

Ugh. I hated surprises. But I loved giving them out, so I guess that was just Karma for ya.

**February 1st**

The first thing I noticed was the fact that I was alone and cold. The next thing I noticed was the fact that there was a sticky note on my forehead.

_Wake up, birthday boy!_ was scribbled in Rose's familiar scrawl. I smiled, and stood up to stretch.

I walked into the hall and a pair of arms were threw around my neck from behind, and I felt breathing on my neck. I grinned, lifting my arm to bring it behind me and hook Rose off my back, bringing her infront of me, holding her by her back as if we were dancing the Tango. She blushed.

"Good morning," I said, standing her back up and kissing her cheek.

"Happy birthday," she responded. We walked into the living room, where Mello greeted me by handing me a long, slim red box.

* * *

**Not particurlarly happy with the ending of this one, I just had to end it somehow. **

**It's finally finished!**

**Now onto my Stowaway chapter _that I'm already halfway done with..._**


	34. Presents and the Present

**A/N: TT_TT**

** ;A;**

**I've just discovered the song "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons.**

**I... CAN'T... STOP... **_**CRYING!**_**!****!**!

* * *

Chapter 34: Presents and the Present

"Just letting you know," Mello chortled, "this first gift was a joke," he said after handing Matt a slim red box I didn't recognize. Must have been pre-wrapped, because Mello _sucks_ at wrapping boxes.

Matt raised his eyebrow. "Should I be scared?" he turned to me.

"I dunno, he did this one without me," I shrugged.

"Just open it," Mello urged. "Besides, if I told you what it was, Rose, you would have told him. _Trust me,"_ he chuckled.

"Okay, now I'm terrified," Matt said, placing the box on the table. "I'm going to open the explosive one _last_ if you don't mind," he said, backing away from the box as if it were infected.

For some reason, I stuttered when I asked, "Uh, s-so I guess it's uh... it's my gift first, isn't it?" I stalled for time.

Mello just looked at us in the strangest way, before walking around Matt and snatching the box off of the table, effectively latching it into Matt's hands again.

"Open," he said in an exaggerated British accent.

Matt sniffed indifferently. "But you've got me scared of it," he complained.

"Just open the bloody box, Matty," I helped Mello. I didn't know what it was, but Mello was very persistent about it. Maybe it was a video game.

"Fine," he sighed. He eyed Mello suspiciously before cautiously lifting the lid a fraction of an inch. His nose twitched and he was fighting a smile as he stood up straight and slowly closed the lid again, heading for the fridge.

With how much he was fighting laughter, I was amazed at his willpower. He opened the door and, to my confusion, put the box in the door of the fridge. He was forcing his smile into a thin line, a small red stain spreading across his cheeks.

I raised my eyebrow, and he lost it. Leaning heavily on Mello, he began to laugh furiously, and I was left to wonder what little inside joke (that needed to be refrigerated, might I add) I was missing out on. Mello decided Matt couldn't answer on his own.

"I gave him Vodka for his birthday," he chuckled along with his friend, who was fighting for air.

"Reminds me of the time... when we put straight Vodka in... in Roger's _water bottle!_" he was now standing on his own, not needing Mello's support anymore, but he was still laughing.

I giggled but still scolded them. "That was mean," I said through my grin.

"_You should have seen his face!"_ Mello exclaimed, staggering backwards and tripping over the coffee table, landing on the couch unfased. I put my hand on my mouth, because I knew if I laughed, we'd all probably laugh until we forgot what we were laughing at, until one of us went to get a sandwich or something from the fridge, then it'd start all over again.

I sighed and walked over to Matt, who had slumped over on the floor leaning on the couch at this point.

"A'ight, open mine," I said, shoving my own Maroon red box in his hands. He wiped his cheek and took the box and sat up a little straighter.

"Ah, sorry," he apoligized. "Mello does that every now and then. It's a good... _laugh,_" he chuckled. I shook my head, not sure whether to be amused or annoyed. Poor Roger!

"I'm not going to comment," I admitted. He shrugged. "Mels, get over here," I called to a Mello who had abandoned us for a chocolate bar. He looked up, said chocolate bar hanging out of his mouth. "Yeah, that's fine, trade watching Matty open presents like a rabid four year old for a chocolate bar. You're too kind," I said in a playful sarcastic voice. He snorted and rolled his eyes.

"... I open presents like a rabid four year-"

"Shut up, Matt," Mello joked.

"Meh," he gave the most huge and hurt, scared puppy dog eyes I've ever seen. It was adorable. The fact that Mels and I were standing over him as he sat backed up against a couch was pretty helpful to his whole "hurt puppy" look.

I yawned and poked his forehead. "Open," I said.

He grinned, looking down at the box in his hands, raising it up to his ear and shaking it.

"I'm making sure this isn't a bottle," he explained when I raised my eyebrow.

I nodded. It made sense.

"It's not, it's awesome, and mine goes with it, so hurry up, you know how impaitent I can be," Mello rushed him. I giggled.

* * *

I rolled my eyes as they both stared down at me. I could choose to open it now, or...

Or Mello would kill me, that's what. I'm not going for plan B, which was bolt.

"Okay, okay," I sighed, shaking my head in amusement. I slid off the lid, nearly dropping it when I saw what was inside.

Rose had excellent color coordinaiton, apparently.

She got me new goggles. They were jet black, with a little metal "M2" on the sides, and the lenses, instead of my old orange ones, were red. I grinned, reaching my right hand out in front of me and pulling her down on the ground to sit with me. She scooted closer to me and put her hand on my arm.

"You like 'em?" she looked up at me with her huge obsidian eyes.

"Love 'em," I comfirmed. "Love the goggles, too," I said, pointedly looking at her eyes. She blushed. I looked up at Mello.

"Okay, what's this awesome present you got me, besides alchohol?"

He smiled a sly smile, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a slightly smaller box, tossing it to me. I flicked it open, and there was a wristband with a matching M2 on it. I felt so special... There are items in the store with my Alias on it. How... comforting hardly fit it... creepy.

I grinned, pulling off my goggles and almost setting them on the ground, before hesitating, and finally putting them in the box my new ones came in. I didn't want them to get scratched. I put the new goggles on, fitting them just so. I grinned as I put on the single wristband, admiring the M2 once again, when Rose leaned against me, unclipping her necklace.

"Look," she said. "It's the same metal," she leld up the silver L up to the M2 on my wristband, and the edges fit perfectly.

"And now, look," Mello said, kneeling onto the ground and slipping his red crucifix off his head. "Total customization," he fitted the cross in the little nitch between the L and the M2. Perfect fit. I smiled, pulling them both in for a group hug.

"Oh, be right back," Mello said standing up. If they got me a cake, I would ground them both. Yes, I can do that. I'll take Mel's chocolate away and... and... limit Rose to one hug a week. No more. Because I was that serious when I mean "NO CELEBRATION".

It's not the whole "oh no I don't want you guys to do too much for me," it's just the whole "we're too close to get each other gifts" thing.

Mello did not return with a cake, but he did return with a tall bottle and three glasses. I blinked, making sure I was seeing what I thought I saw. Yeah.

Mello was trying to get us all drunk.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the late update guys. I went shopping. Been up since 5:00 AM... three days ago...**


	35. Human

**A/N: NO.**

**MORE.**

**SCHOOL!**

**Got my Black Veil Brides BLARING in my ears, I got the best summer setup ON EARTH, time to write some stuffs.**

**(this was a promise I made to moony back in April.. I think this is LONG overdue.) :D**

* * *

Chapter 35: Human

Aaron Welle was your average A+ student who had his eye on a certain girl in the neighborhood. So when that girl hadn't came to school for the second week in a row, it worried him.

Placing his hand on the doorknob, he rung the doorbell, knowing she wouldn't answer. The door as always unlocked, though; her mother was always out, and he was always worried.

Tentatively, he opened the door and called out her name, but no answer. He called again, but still no reply. He blinked and looked around. Should he?

He entered the house and kicked off his shoes; the carpet was fresh and clean, he'd feel guilty if he would ruin that. He called her name once more, before cautiously heading upstairs.

He paused outside her room; he could hear crying, bawling, as if somebody had reached their mental breaking point. He rested his hand on the knob before swallowing and calling her name again. The crying got quieter, and he called her name once more, opening the door.

She was a mess; her normally blonde hair had obviously missed a dying treatment, and was now a dirty, mussed up brown. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her cheeks were all rosy from the warm tears pouring down them. Aaron felt truly terrible for the girl; he had no idea how long she had been crying. But he didn't expect her to drop onto her knees in front of him, didn't expect her to start shaking, and crumple to the floor, absolutely did not expect her to ask him to relieve her of her suffering.

He blinked, and took a half a step back. She raised her chocolate brown eyes, still pouring, and held back a sob. She said it so softly, he could barely hear it.

"Please..."

He knelt down. "I'm not going to kill you."

"Then take it!" she screamed. "I can't do it anymore, take it, far away! I don't care what you do with it, just take it away!" she had now grabbed his collar, desperation filling her facial features. "Throw it in a lake, give it to somebody, light it on fire, _I don't care,_ just take it away from me!"

His eyes widened.

"Take... what away?" he asked.

She got a terrified look in her eyes, and leaned in, saying in a barely audible whisper. "The Death Note."

* * *

I would say 'The boys were so drunk it wasn't even funny,' but this was downright hilarious. I think this is the only time Mello has lost a playfight without letting Matt win.

I was our designated non-drinker, seeing as I had bad memories of the last time I had a few shots (I mean, I don't think I would have stumbled alongside that guy if I weren't intoxicated at the concert) so I was having fun just watching these two.

I think we laughed so hard poking fun at Justin Bieber, we actually memorized the words to Baby. Two words. Baby. Oh. repeat.

I learned something new; when you're drunk, everything seems would _not stop laughing._

Let's face it; karaoke as we knew it would not exist if it weren't for a bunch of drunks having a good time.

"Oh, hey, hey, hey guys, you know what we should do?" Matt jumped off the couch real serious and looked at us.

"What should we do, Matty? Tell us!" I put my chin in my hands and stared up at him, humoring his drunkeness.

"We need to totally go like, copy all the movies where the kids get drunk and go have heartfelt moments, sharing secrets under the stars..." he was clutching at his chest, one hand outstretched to the sky. I was reminded of Romeo, for some reason.

"No!" I jumped up, too, getting struck by inspiration. "We need to go count the stars!" Matt snapped out of his dramatic pose.

"That sounds funner than my idea," he laughed.

"You guys are both seriously boring," Mello chuckled.

"What's wrong with us?" Matt defended.

"You don't get it; when everything's hilarious in your world, having a simple conversation will make you laugh more than watching a bunch of stars fall," his point was proven by Matt chuckling.

"You know, Matt, Mello's right. If you both start cackling he-witches," which they started up right away, to exaggerate my words, "then I'll probably be entertained just listening to you guys laugh at senseless stuff," I sat back down on the couch.

It wasn't as if they were "drunk" drunk, they had judgement, and anyway, with how fast they burn off things like that by thinking (not sure if this has the same principles with alchohol) the worst case scenario was them being giggly and dizzy.

So we just sat around the living room, laughing and talking. Mello really knew what he was talking about, even if he _did_ have a few shots of Vodka.

I made sure they didn't get _too_ much to drink. I put the bottle up after I thought they were happy enough. Matt pretended to cry, but I flicked his nose so hard he just laughed again.

Surprisingly, I fell asleep first, leaning against Matt's shoulder. After that, I barely remember Matt carrying me back to the bedroom, kissing the top of my head and tucking me in.

* * *

"The Death Note?" he asked. He knew she had one, but she was just... giving it up?

He had kept her secret, not only because he thought she couldn't possibly take being Kira for long. He was right. But he also kept her secret because somehow, deep inside, he felt that Kira wasn't a monster.

He supported Kira.

Besides, above all, being a supporter was one way _not _to get killed.

Not that he would go around worshipping Kira, but he just had a small feeling of satisfaction that evil people were dying.

Amaia was not evil.

"Please..." she whispered, grabbing his arm. Aaron noticed she was shaking.

"Why can't you just leave it somewhere?"

"Because then it's still mine! It's still my burden! I'm still tainted..." she let Aaron's arm go, backing up and sitting on the bed. "I'm not... human, anymore."

"I find that hard to believe," Aaron replied bitterly. "Kira's a beast, you're right, but you are very much human."

She looked up at him, her chocolate colored eyes watering, and if she had bothered with mascara, that would have more than likely been long gone. "No. I'm not _alive,_ anymore. I... I can't _feel_ anything anymore. It's scary."

Against his better judgement, he sighed, walking across the room to sit next to the weeping teen.

"That's awful condradictory," he said, uncomfortably shifting when she awkwardly leaned her head on his shoulder. She looked up at him, a question in her eyes. He continued, "You just said that you didn't feel anything, yet you explained to me that you feel fear. You tell me you're inhuman, you try to insist that you're a monster, but then you stutter. A very human thing to do." Her eyes widened.

He noticed the Death Note on her bedside table.

"You keep such a thing so close while you're asleep?" he reached forward and picked it up. He flicked through, while grimacing at how many pages where written on, he also caught a bit of silver writing. "There, see?" he pointed.

"What?" the girl looked with interest.

"This rule says you can 'relinquish the Note', and you won't remember anything that has to do with the actual Death Note."

"No... memory?" she bit her lip. Where on earth was her Shinigami when she really needed it? It seemed to hang around her when she wanted to be alone; she goes looking for it and it's nowhere to be found.

Aaron blinked. "Are... you okay?"

"I'm... Andy, I'm scared."

* * *

Yes, Aaron Welle was your average A+ student, who was assigned to keep his eye on a certain girl in the neighborhood. He had your average problems, like being harassed by a serial killer as a child and being forced to go into hiding because of it. He, like any other _obviously normal _boy, had an alias.

And as he sat there, holding the crying girl as she fell asleep, while she herself, at that moment had no idea simply _why_ she was crying, he couldn't help but think to himself.

_I don't want to let go..._

* * *

**A/N: this took painfully long to write.**

**No, it was nothing to do with the AndyxMai. **

**Partially because I was away from my comp, partially because I lost the document, then had to start over, didn't like how I re-made it, re-wrote it AGAIN, got halfway through with it, then BAM! **

**... the original, 5 sentences from complete copy is right there.**

**On my desktop.**

**Oh, BTW, poll on my profile. About what?**

**You shall see.**


	36. Keeping the Stars Apart

**A/N: ah, how I love writing~**

**Since it's summer, I'll probably be working overtime.**

**seriously.**

**And okay okay, I lied about B. But I promise, he's got a part in this chappie, if it's not apparent, it's there, I swear. **

**100th reviewer gets a s'more!**

* * *

**I do not own DN or "I carry it With Me" by E. E. Cummings.**

* * *

**Also, since nothing apparent happens between February and the current date besides Valentine's Day, I'm timeskipping to June. Don't worry, you'll know what happened, in a flashback. Just thought I'd let you know.**

**Also, if you look up "Misa's theme B" I find that it fits this chapter quite well, especially toward the end...**

* * *

Chapter Thirty Six: Keeping the Stars Apart

I lay on the floor, buttons clicking furiously on my pink DS. My hair was pulled up in a bun, out of my face, and I was kicking Bowzer's-

Oh!

"M-Matt? What are you... _doing_?" I asked, suddenly requiring a reason for why Matt was currently straddling my back like Mello and his motorcycle.

"Playing a video game," he whispered in my ear, settling himself to where he was comfortably laying on my back, his head resting on my shoulder, and his hands craftily stole my DS. "What's it look like?"

I really did not want to say what it looked like.

"Aer you having fun with my DS?" I asked, semi-annoyed, mostly terrified for whatever reason.

"Mmm. It'd be funner if you rolled over."

What the hell?

"Okay, you're in a mood today, aren't you?" I asked, making an attempt to sit up, but he wouldn't budge.

"Actually, yes. Mello's gonna be out of the house for the week. Maybe more."

"... week?" I asked. "Why?"

"He says he wants to 'catch up' with anybody at Wammy's that might still remember him. Thing he doesn't know, is just about every kid there idolizes him," he chuckled. Which felt strange with the way he was sprawled across my back.

"Bah, I think Mels's just getting sentimental," I giggled. "Um, can you get off of me now?" I asked hopelessly.

"Only if you can provide with proper entertainment besides this lovely Nintendo, my dearest." Oh, how I hated it when he was stubborn.

"Okay, fine. You win." I didn't exactly know what that implied, but it had the desired effect.

"Huh? Really? Just like tha-" I rolled over when his guard was down, causing _him_ to be pinned to the ground on his back, with me laying on _him_, facing the ceiling.

"Nope. I win." I grinned as he rolled his eyes and sat up, comfortably adjusting me in his lap, plucking the hair tie from my hair and bringing a lock to his cheek, thinking.

"Okay, you won the battle. But it's a fact that I will win the war," he said.

"No idea what that meant."

"Good. You can't know."

"..." He _was_ in a mood today!

I sighed. "How about a bit of poetry, hmm?" I needed to think, and poetry helped me do so. It was just an added bonus that I had Matt to cite romantic ones to. I turned to face him and put my arms around his neck. "You ever heard of E. E. Cummings?"

"Uhh, rings a bell, never actually sat down and picked up one of his works."

"Hmm... Then you'll like this one," I said, looking him in the goggle-clad eyes.

"What's it called?"

" 'I Carry it With Me'. I adore this poem, so, so much." Matt blinked and lie back down, pulling me back with him.

We both just lay there, looking up, as I recited:

"I carry your heart with me,

I carry it in my heart,

I am never without it.

Anywhere I go, you go, my dear,

And whatever is done by only me,

it's your doing, my darling.

I fear no fate,

For you are my fate, my sweet,

I want no world,

For, Beautiful, you are my world,

My true,

And it's you are whatever a moon has always meant,

And whatever a sun will sing is you."

I rolled over so that I was facing him, but I was still on his chest. I whispered the last stanza.

"And here is the deepest secret nobody knows,

Here is the root of the root,

And the bud of the bud,

And the sky of the sky,

Of a tree called Life,

Which grows higher than the soul can hope,

or the mind can hide,

And this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart."

I pressed my lips to his, softly, before whispering, "I carry it with me, I carry it in my heart."

The kiss was just a short one; the most passionate by far that we'd ever had was the very first one. Every now and then, sure, we would have a tender kiss, but it was a very, very laid back relationship.

But that didn't mean I didn't feel so strongly for him, it was a wonder I didn't implode.

He took a lock of my hair and breathed into it. "You know what just occurred to me?" he asked suddenly. "We haven't even had a real date yet."

Well that was certainly something to think about. I didn't realize it, either. Huh, it was true. Unless you counted movie nights, we haven't dated one single day yet.

* * *

_"Hey, Rose?" Matt asked. I looked up. "Could you come here a sec?"_

_I nodded, putting the DS down on the table and standing up, making my way over to the kitchen. _

_"Ah.. stop!" I froze as he put a hand on either one of my shoulders. "Close your eyes." I complied. "Hold your hand out like you're about to grab some one's hand for a handshake."_

_When I did, I felt something thin and long get placed into my hand. It was fragile, and almost so incredibly delicate I could almost feel the other side of my hand through it._

_"You can open your eyes, now."_

_When I did, it was so... sweet. It was literally so tender, so perfect that I wanted so badly to cry, but my smile prevented tears. _

_I flung my arms around his neck, and he kissed my cheek. "Where did you find a purple rose?" I asked in awe._

_"Believe it or not, they do grow."_

_"But still... wow." I just rocked against his chest, and he trailed his fingers along my spine, and I don't remember how or when we moved from that spot. All I remember is the way he whispered 'I love you' in my ear, so many times..._

* * *

I was jerked out of my thoughts by Mello's bike pulling up into the driveway. Hmm. Figured. He would need to pack, if he was staying a week. And then there was the airplane business but Roger would probably arrange that.

We didn't exactly have enough time to get off of each other before Mello came in, seeing as we were in the living room and incidentally so was the front door.

But I have to say, the look on his face?

Priceless.

"Blocking it out," he whispered to himself, putting a hand in front of his face and turning toward the hallway. "Gonna go pack now."

I rolled my eyes.

"We were just exchanging a little poetry, Mello-kun." He froze. I only used formalities when I wanted something. Matt noticed something was up, too, because he let me get off of him long enough to go pester Mello.

"Poetry get a little too heated for ya, guys?" Mello chuckled. "Or did you just get lost in the moment?"

"Can't you wait a little longer before you go? You didn't even tell me!" I threw an accusatory glance at Matt, who shrugged.

"Found out this morning," he defended.

I pouted. "Mello-kun, can't you take us with you?"

"I only have one plane ticket. Roger bought it for me." Called it.

"Can I at least drive ya to the airport?" Matt asked.

Mello shrugged. "I don't see why no-"

"_Shotgun!"_ I raced past Mello, heading for the garage. Didn't expect Matt to grab me by hooking his right arm in front of my waist and hoisting me over his shoulder.

"Matt!" I yelled, shocked. "Pumme down!"

"Nuh-uh."

I sulked, crossing my arms and resting my cheek on his back. He carried me to the car when Mello was finished packing, and, yes, I did get to ride shotgun.

[line here]

The two hour drive home was kind of sad without Mels there. I wondered if he left any of his chocolates back home.

I leaned back in the seat, letting the Summer wind blow on my face as Matt drove us home. Through my sunglasses, I could see wisps of clouds, and the occasional bird lazing about the sky. My tank top was the perfect garment for this kind of weather. It kept you cool. I smiled to myself, for there was a stormcloud on the horizon. The perfect night. Warm air, cool water droplets running down your neck- these were nights I dreamt of since I was old enough to enjoy the rain.

It was already sprinkling by the time we pulled up to the house. I looked up longingly to the sky; the drops were coming down bigger, plumper, harder. Perfect weather. I sighed, abandoning the route to the doot and detouring to the nearest tree, which I sat under. Matt watched me with interest, but I honestly didn't care. Let him go hide indoors, while he becomes even more terrified of germs.

Germaphobe.

I closed my eyes and took the sunglasses off, looking up to the sky.

The tree was perfect cover. It allowed enough water down to get you wet, cooled off, and feeling quite comfortable, yet it protected you well from the heavy raindrops.

It wasn't long before it was dark out. I didn't mind the loneliness; it was nice. I didn't realize I was humming until I heard a voice in my ear: "Take good care or yourself, you belong to _me_."

I jumped, startled. "How long were you out here?" I asked, curious. I wouldn't know, my eyes were shut and I was zoned out. He shrugged.

"Only long enough to bring you some hot chocolate," he grinned. I smiled, taking the hot mug from his hands, sipping it. It was almost as if it were a certain stolen chocolate bar, it was so good.

We sat, and talked for God knows how long. Matt told me his real name, which was Mail Jeevas, and I pointed out several constellations. We went from lying on our backs and talking, to being on our sides looking at each other, till eventually we were a considerable space away from the tree we originally started under, and were sitting side by side, looking up at the sky. The stars were nice, but I wasn't paying attention. I was listening to the way he was breathing. Suddenly, he gasped, and I looked at him just in time to see a shooting star reflect in the goggles he had perched on his head. Then another, and I watched as his eyes moved to take in yet another falling stars.

I smiled, laying my head on his shoulder. I had forgotten. There was a meteor shower tonight. Obviously, Matt hadn't heard of a meteor shower happening any time soon at all, because he looked around, awestruck, at all the falling orbs of light. He put his arm around my shoulders, hugging me tightly. I buried my face in his shoulder.

I felt his hand come over to cup my chin, tilting my head up to his. He kissed me, soft, slowly. But when he pulled away, this time, it was different. His mouth lingered by mine, and I could feel his cold breath washing against my face. I leaned up for another kiss, and he kissed back. The pattern continued when I would pull away for air, he would come right back in for another kiss.

I felt one of my hands reached up to tangle itself in Matt's hair, and I felt his hand place itself at my waist, pushing me down onto the ground gently.

And we lay there, kissing as the sky fell around us, and I thought to myself,

_This is what keeps the stars apart._


	37. Principles

**A/N: it's so fluffy i exploded. My cat exploded. my stuffed animal, that is already fluffy, exploded.**

**Lime warning ahead.**

**I just can't do lemon, guys. Too hard to write.**

**And if you can guess who's at the end of the chappie, I'll give you a cookie.**

**MOONY RESIST THE URGE. YOU ALREADY KNOW.**

Chapter 37: Principles

I don't think she noticed when it started to rain again, I didn't really care for that matter. All that mattered was _her_.

This kiss, this incredible, unbearably sweet kiss, was going against all my principles.

_"Don't look at her like that!" _they screamed. "_Don't even think about entertaining the thoughts that swirl around your mind when you two kiss!"_ I was ignoring the screaming warnings in my head, warnings that I'd set up for myself to prevent myself from pushing Rose's boundaries.

Yet, with every soft whimper that escaped her lips, with ever star that fell around us, one of those warnings stayed silent, for every noise that she made, I kissed her even more forcefully. Soon, I had her pinned to the ground.

_Don't kiss her too roughly!_ At the moment, I was..."ravaging"would be the right word, really, I was basically attacking her.

_Don't hold her like that!_ No, I was holding her as close as I dared, as close as I _wanted_. I could feel every little movement she made, felt every little curve of her body as it was pressed to mine...

She had her eyes wide open, watching me through every second of it, and I loved it. Her hair was splayed out on the grass, webbed with droplets of water, for it had started to rain again, just lightly misting.

My hands were shaking, forcing myself to drop the wall I'd built to restrict myself, allowing the low, growling moan that had built in my throat to escape, causing her to kiss me with such force, it wasn't enough to push me away, but it was _enough._

Her eyes, almost feline, had attained a sharp edge to them, and they sent a shiver up my spine. As she put more feeling into the kisses, those eyes began to close. We rolled onto our sides, and she pressed herself even closer, as close as physically possible, and her leg hitched up onto my hip. One of my hands moved to her back, pulling her closer, if that were possible, and the other went up to tangle itself in her hair.

I gasped as she pressed her hips against mine, her hand grabbing a fistful of my shirt as she did so. It was almost instinctual when I brought my hand from her back to her leg, firmly holding it in place so it couldn't leave my hip.

_Be careful!_ I yelled at myself mentally as the last star fell, silenced for the night. _Keep it modest!_ All the same, no matter what situation you were in, I'm pretty sure sliding my thumb into her belt loop wasn't modest... at all...

**[line here]**

The plane touched down. It was morning, but it was usually night by now, back at home.

Roger greeted me with open arms, and I felt kind of guilty. Last time I saw him, I was yelling at _him_ for L's decision. I cringed as the man willingly hugged me, knowing the last time we made contact was when I had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. I needed to make up for that.

_"MELLO!"_ I heard a familiar voice yelling from behind me. Roger stepped away, chuckling as a pair of arms were threw around my waist.

"Gwyn? You're still here?"

"Of _course_ I'm still here, Mello. Where else am I supposed to go? How's Matt?" she asked before I could answer. She jumped in again before I could answer _that_ too. "Where have you been? Do you still hate Near? Have you heard of Roslyn lately?" I chuckled. The girl _did_ miss me. SHe was probable the only one, though.

"Uhmm. answering these in order, I hope... Matt's fine, I've been in California, living with Matt and Roslyn, actually, I despise Near, and the last one's been answered already." She giggled.

"You're living with Roslyn because it was a package deal, right?"

"What?"

"Come _on_, Mello. You remember! We all anonymously voted Matt and Roslyn 'Most likely to stay together after Wammy's'. Don'tcha remember? We didn't let them know, of course, but I stick by my word. You had to live with Roslyn because Matt wouldn't move in without her. Right?"

She still talked a lot, I see. "Actually, Roslyn was on her own for a while, living with her mom. But Near wanted her to be safe, because Kira'd started up again..."

"OH! I get it, now. Near played match-maker."

"What? No. It's a good thing he'd sent her to live with us, too, cause if it weren't for Matt..." I shook my head, not really wanting to know what would have happened, though at the same time, I knew street thugs. She would have been raped and dumped on the side of the road, dead and in a ditch.

"You mean, she almost...?"

"It was at a concert. What?" she gave me a disapproving look. "We can't have fun? Anyway, somebody kidnapped her and Matt saved her, long story short. She's better now; this was way back in January."

"I see." She switched to a new subject. "I _missed you!_ When do you think the others are going to come up?"

Made sense she would miss _me_. I kind of missed her. Actually, now that I thought about it, didn't we date for a while?

Yeah, now that I remembered, we were about nine years old. I wouldn't call it _love_, because, come on, we were nine. And if I remember right, she broke up with me cause I was giving Near Hell, and at the time I really didn't care. I actually find that hilarious now, if you believe it.

She dragged me to the living room, and I was almost instantly bombarded with children who wanted to ask me questions.

"Mello!"

"Mello's back!"

"You're not going to leave again, are you?" A small girl with a bow in her hair grabbed onto my arm and looked up at me with her big green eyes.

"Uh..." I blinked. So they _did_ miss me? I smiled. "I'll probably go back home, but if you miss me, I wonder what kinda welcome Matt and Roslyn's gonna get." Roslyn was Rose's alias, and we were pushing it just calling her Rose around the house. But we couldn't exactly call her Roslyn in front of her friends, and besides, when Rose was young, and visiting Wammy's frequently, everybody was under the impression that Rose was short for the alias Roslyn and called her Rose anyway. So really, her real name was her alias. And if you thought about it, L was her alias now. But the kids couldn't know that.

"Matt and Rose are coming down?" a little boy with brown hair and brown eyes, sporting a baseball cap asked, popping his head over my shoulder from behind the couch.

"Maybe," I said. "I'll have to ask them about how they feel about coming up here."

"I do hope dearest Andrew isn't coming up," a chillingly familiar voice said from the stairwell, behind me. I dropped my chocolate bar.

All the kids slowly disappeared, heading off nto the kitchen, under the pretext of seeing if Linda had finished baking a cake. I knew that wasn't why, they were as terrified as I wanted to show I was. But I knew two things fueled this psycho: Suffering and fear.


	38. My Heart Shaped Strawberry

**A/N: our air conditioner broke... :(**

**but my room is freezing... :)**

**this chapter made me so hungry... xD**

**Been forever since I've done one of these...**

* * *

**The Song for This Chapter is: Nine in the Afternoon** by **Panic! at the Disco**

* * *

Chapter 38: My Heart Shaped Strawberry

I had mud in my hair.

Grr.

I heard a groan come from Matt as I tried to sit up.

"What's up with you?" I whispered, not bothering to open my eyes enough to see where he was at. I lay back down and he sighed, cuddling into my side moreso than what he already was. Okay, I had to see this. I opened my eyes to find a very peacefully sleeping Matt, his head on my lap and his hand gripping my shirt.

I absent mindedly wondered where his goggles had gone, because they weren't on his face, nor were they perched on his head. I reached out and lifted the sleeping boy's hair to find them around his neck.

I sat up, ignoring his protests from the sleeping world, and he whimpered, rolling over to face the sky. He sighed again and opened his eyes, turning his head to look at me.

"Sleep well, Red-Head?" I asked as he luxuriously stretched, rolling over and laying down in the grass.

"Quite well, Bed-Head. Quite well." He suddenly sat up, with the energy of a jackrabbit, and kissed my cheek, pulling me up to stand.

"Gahh!" I gasped at the sudden movement that I was _not_ awake enough for.

"Come on, Roseh," he said so cheerily I was certain he had been awake for longer than the three seconds he appeared to be.

"Wahh, I don't wanna move fast," I complained, pulling him back and rooting my feet to the ground. "We walk or we stay."

"Or I carry you," he stepped toward me, and I completely freaked out as the ground suddenly went goodbye and I didn't have anything to grab onto, for he had picked me up from behind.

"Matt! No! Put me down!"

"You're afraid of heights, aren't you?" he chuckled. "You're two inces off the ground." He bent his knees just enough for my toes to touch the ground to prove his point.

"I'm not really caring at this moment in time," I twisted around and grabbed his neck, which by now he had fixed his goggles. He rolled his eyes, and he let go of my waist, and I dropped the short two inches and stood there, still gripping his neck. I narrowed my eyes.

"Not cool."

"It is in my book," he grinned, bending down and picking me up bridal-style this time. "There we go. Easier transportation. So... You _are_ a'scared of heights?"

"Don't... remind me..." I clung to his shirt. "I'm not awake enough for this, Matt."

"I am. I won't drop you, don't worry." He stopped walking when he got to the door. "You know, I can't carry you in to the door, right?"

"...why?"

He sighed, grinning as if I had missed an important memo. "Haven't you heard of the 'crossing the threshold' wivestale? It's bad luck for me to carry you into a front door, since we're not married."

"... that has anything to do with it?"

"No, it's just fact. Not hinting at anything, and trust me, if I was, you'd know. I'm just refusing to jinx you."

"Jinx _me_? What about you?"

"Rose. I'm me. I doubt the world could throw anything more creative at me."

"... I see..."

"Come on," he put me down, opening the door.

"Alright," I yawned, walking past him. "I didn't wanna be carried anyway, so..."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't even think about heading for the cereal cabinet."

I froze in my tracks. "Why not?"

"Pfft, you think I'm just going to let you get away with a breakfast as simple as that after last night? You're crazy," he gently pushed me aside, steering me to the table and opening the fridge.

"Why does kissing effect my breakfast?" I asked.

He turned to me. "It gives me an excuse to cook for you." He turned back to the fridge. Oh, so it was that simple.

"Oh, speaking of kissing," I started. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes..?"

"You've been holding out on me. I expect a lot more than a peck on the cheek before bed, now." He rolled his eyes, but his shoulders relaxed significantly. What, did he think I was gonna say something else? I decided not to press the subject.

'Yeah, well," he said as he balanced the tub of butter on his knee so he could get out the eggs and milk.

"You're not making a cake, are you?"

"I'm offended. This is nothing like a cake," He grinned childishly, putting the eggs and milk on the counter so he could grab the butter and put his knee down.

"Well, all I see is milk, butter, and eggs. Looks like cake to me," I giggled.

"But it's not," he said matter-of-factly as he studied the objects on the counter and turned back to the fridge to grab a packet of cream cheese and some lemons. He then went over to the cabinet and pulled out a bag of flour, a bag of salt, and a bag of sugar.

"Jeez, you'd think you were cooking for Thanksgiving Day," I raised my eyebrow, standing up from the table and moving my chair to sit at the counter. "I wanna watch," I said as he poured some water into a measuring cup.

"And watch you shall," he said as he rummaged through the cabinet once more, his hand finding what it was searching for as it set a bottle of vanilla extract on the counter. "What?" he said as I looked over all the ingredients to God-knows-what he was cooking. "I told you I could cook. I have to fend for myself when Mello eats nothing but chocolate," he chuckled.

He bent down and disappeared under the counter for a second, coming back up with a blender.

"Okay, you're making smoothies or you're baking. Which is it?"

"Neither, dear," he said as he opened the fridge once more and grabbed the cream and a box of strawberries.

He set some strawberries aside, the others he poured into the blender, to blend later. I remained by my smoothie theory. That is, of course, until he popped a bowl of butter into the microwave.

He then got out a rather large bowl, pouring a precise measurement of flour in and whisking two eggs into it.

"What are you_ making_?" I asked as he poured the milk into the mixture slowly.

"Figure it out, and I will tell you," he abandoned the milk, reaching for the sugar bag.

"That's informative," I let him know as he went to the microwave and grabbed the now-melted butter.

"Uh-huh," he said, pouring the salt in, "I know."

Well, then, it certainly seemed like _he_ cared about how curious I was as to what he was baking-smoothie-ifying up for me.

I watched as he poured the butter into the mixture, then started to whisk it all up. It soon grew quite thick.

He then got a skillet out, spraying it with something or other, then poured the concoction into it. Once he got that cooking, he turned to the strawberries he had abandoned in the blender. Poor strawberries. I'd freak out if I got popped into a spinning death blade machine.

That's a morbid way to think of your smoothies.

"So is there a purpose behind all this?" I asked as I stole one of the sliced strawberries.

"Uh, Yeah," he paused what he was doing to look at me. "I just told you," he reached his hand out to cup my cheek, and I though he was going to kiss me for a second, until he smirked and wiped off some strawberry juice from my lips with his index finger. "Caught red handed- erm, red lipped," he said, popping his finger in his mouth, sampling the strawberry that had obviously missed my mouth.

Yet again, he went to the microwave, leaving the blender on auto mode and me on blush mode. This time, he set the cream cheese inside it, putting it in for a minute thirty seconds or so.

As the blender pureed the poor red things, he began slicing about two cups of said red berries.

Once the berries were liquified and sliced, he grabbed the cream cheese and put it in the bowl. I noticed it wasn't melted; just soft. He poured sugar in this mixture, too, along with the vanilla extract. He grabbed one of the lemons and a cheese grater. When one whole lemon was completely bald of all zest it had ever known, he sliced it and the other lemon in half, squeezing the juice into the bowl and mixing it all up.

"Okay, I don't care what you say," I began as he grabbed a seperate, smaller bowl and began to whip the heavy cream in it. "You're just cooking for me with no reason."

"Ah, while that may be true," he said, as he got a spatula and went to flip the now-tortilla resembling thing in the skillet, "I have the excuse of you being the most extraordinary person I have ever had the oppurtunity to meet, let alone kiss, in my entire life." He set some of the whipped cream aside, pouring the most of it into the cream cheese mixture he had started up recently.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, that doesn't count as a reason," my head followed him as he walked to the stove and turned the burner off, popping the whatever-it-was onto a plate, bringing it back to where he was working.

"Then I guess I'm reasonless," he looked at me as he spooned the pureed strawberries onto the tortilla-smoothie-cake thing, smiling, and then filled it with the cream cheese stuff.

As he folded it up, topping it with the whipped cream and a few of the sliced strawberries, covering it with a napkin and getting out a muffin pan. What was he doing now?

"If you're reasonless, and cooking for me on a whim, then that's incredibly sweet, Matty-boy," I said as he filled each of the little indents in the muffin pan with water.

"Well, I can't say I'm completely reasonless," he said, plopping a single strawberry in each tin.

"Whatcha mean, completely?"

"Well," he started, putting the muffin pan into the... freezer? That was going to get us nothing but ice cubes.

"Well _what_?" I grinned. He was a little uncomfortable now.

"_Well,_ I'm actually buttering you up for a question that I'm planning on asking you, not this minute, but soon."

"Today soon?"

"I'm... I'm not sure, but soon," he thought.

"You're helpful."

"Aren't I?"

"No," I giggled.

He took my hand and led me to the living room. "Stay," he ordered, as he set me down on the couch. I blinked, thinking about what he could possibly be trying to ask me.

He got back, and he was surprisingly holding two wine glasses.

"No worries, it's non-alchoholic Strawberry Daquri," he handed me one. I smiled. The strawberry icecubes...

The strawberries were shaped like hearts inside the ice.

I reached up to kiss his cheek. He smiled.

"So where's the thing that you spend most of your morning making?"

"It took about fifteen minutes, Rose. And I didn't think you'd wanna spill it..." he sat the daquri on the coffee table, moving my arm to do the same.

My silent question in my eyes was apparent enough for him to brake the kiss to explain.

"You seemed disappointed when you scolded me for 'holding out on you'. So now, I'm not gonna hold back. Be prepared for random kisses in the middle of the day, because you have _no idea_ how much I feel the need to make you feel loved," he said, bringing his lips to mine again.

I didn't really have an excuse like that when I tackled him...

Even though _I_ was the one to attack _him_, I was still terrified as I pinned him to the couch, gently tugging at the pockets of his jeans. There was always the chance that he would...

"Rose..." he froze for a second, breaking the kiss and looking at me. "What are you doing?" _reject. _Ouch.

I didn't let it show that I was bummed out, instead, continuing to kiss him, mumbling around his lip. "What does it _look _like I'm doing, genius?"

"Um..." well, for once, he was speechless. I was a little shocked in myself, too. What _was_ I doing? "Rose, no. We can't. You know this."

I blinked, the reality of the situation sinking in. Was I seriously trying to... to _seduce_ Matt?

Further pushing myself into shock, I proceeded to ask, "Why not?"

He chuckled. Well, I'm glad _he_ was entertained by my forwardness that frankly I didn't know I was capable of. "Rose..." he sat up, holding my in his lap like a toddler. "You think you want it, maybe even _need _it, which I really wouldn't dout after that, but trust me," he raised an eyebrow, "you'll hate me if and when you get knocked up."

My eyes widened. "Who says I'll get knocked up?"

"My luck. Trust me, I have terrible luck, and you trusting me anyway just puts me in a position where things are bound to go wrong," he chuckled.

I put my head on his shoulder. I would ask once, and if he still said no, I'd drop it. "... Please?" Please? That's all I can say? It's like I'm asking for some ice cream and Mom said no.

He didn't answer. I sighed and pecked his cheek, smiling just a little. "Okay," I gave in. At least he cared about me enough so that he wouldn't put me in that position.

By now the strawberry-heart-ice cubes were melted. I reached over and plucked out one of the little hearts, sucking on a corner thoughtfully. I heard Matt sigh, it was one of those _I-can't-believe-I'm-gonna-do-this_ sighs. He grabbed my arms and gently pushed me onto my back on the couch, the strawberry still in my mouth.

"Let me get this straight," he said, touching his nose to mine. "Any and everything that happens," he dropped his voice down to a whisper, "is solely _your fault."_

* * *

**A/N: fluffyful :3**

**Seven more reviews til I'm at 100!**

* * *

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**Lots of love!~**

* * *

**Tawny**


	39. Impatience

**A/N: Unexpected, right? :D**

* * *

Chapter 39: Impatience

"It's solely _your fault," _I warned her, before I cupped her chin and kissed her softly. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around me, and for a moment, I allowed myself to be lost in her touch, her scent, _her_.

* * *

I sat in my room, bouncing a ball on the wall and catching it.

"Will you stop that, you'll wake Mello!"

"Sor-ry!" I looked over at the person I was sharing my room with.

"Whatever," Ghost replied. "Just know that I'll point at you when he comes in here wondering who woke 'em up."

I rolled my eyes, standing up and making my way to the door, placing my bouncy-ball on my dresser, heading into the hall and downstairs. I idly wondered if Mello was serious when he said Matt and Roslyn were coming up. I grinned. Last time they came up, Roslyn showed me how to skip rocks. Which made me want to go to the lake now.

I stretched and jumped when Linda tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, Diego. whatcha doin'?" Uh, oh. When Linda singled me out, she usually wanted me to test out a new paint set or something. I was the only boy in this entire orphanage who could sit still long enough for Linda to draw me.

"Uh... going out to skip rocks at the lake?" I tried. She giggled.

"Can I come?" I hated when adults pretended to be interested in what kids like I were doing. Nonetheless, I shrugged.

"Sure, I don't see why not. You're gonna draw, right?"

"You know me so well," she ruffled my hair and I was suddenly reminded.

"You haven't seen my baseball cap, right? I haven't seen it since I went outside when Mello went to rest..."

"Did you go to the lake?"

"I think I took it with me, yeah."

"Then shall we go?" she held her arm out, and despite the fact that most boys would find it embarassing to be hanging around a twenty-something year old girl, I didn't mind. I hooked my arm in hers and we strolled out the door. Linda was like the kooky aunt I never had.

"We shall," I agreed as we shut the door behind us.

The path to the lake was a well-used one, and even though Roger finallly gave in and bought a pool, I've never once gotten into it. I prefered the lake. The clear, cool water that the sun never seemed to heat, the countless tadpoles that I had watched grow into frogs, then caught. This was the Wammy's best feature. I loved it.

"There it is, Diego!" Linda pointed to my cap, hanging on a tree limb. Oh, that's right, I hung it on the branch so I wouldn't get it wet while I jumped in. I took my arm out of hers and ran toward it, catching it just before the wind blew it off. I put it on, grinning. Much better.

"Gotcha!" I scolded the flyaway hat. "Thanks, Linda!" I walked along the bank, searching for a flat stone.

Upon finding one, I promptly scanned the water for a good target. Linda settled herself cross legged, facing me, and I prepared to have a long day skipping rocks.

* * *

"Leather," I noted, "I approve."

Ghost looked up at me, obviously just now noticing the fact that I had come down stairs. "Thanks! I think..."

"Oh, that's a compliment," I laughed. I was commenting on his leather fingerless gloves. I lowered my voice. "_He_'s not around, is he...?"

"No, no he's not," Ghost said hurriedly.

I sighed in relief. I really wasn't in the mood to put up with his strangeness.

I looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. It was only a four hour's difference between here and where Matt and Rose were. The sun should just now be setting over there if it was two o'clock here. I pulled out my cell, standing up and aimlessly wandering into the kitchen. Timezone changes were _screwing me up._

_"Hello?"_ Matt's voice came through the phone.

"Matt, I'm bored. Entertain me."

_"..."_

"You have no sense of humor, you know that?"

_"..."_

"What are you even doing?"

I could here some whispering on the other end. I thought I could make out a muffled _"give my phone back!_" but I could have been imagining things.

_"Melloooo-kuuun,"_ I heard Rose drawl out. _"It's awful boring without you here,"_ she said. I heard Matt stifle a laugh and say something along the lines of 'we'll go with that'. That was kind of uncalled for...

"Well I'm glad _somebody_ misses me." Inspiration struck me at that moment. "Hey, how do you guys feel about coming up here?" Surely if they could somehow get their own tickets, Roger wouldn't mind if-

"That would be an _excellent_ idea, Mello," I heard Roger say from somewhere off to my right. I really didn't care because I was too tired. "Should I arrange for the tickets?"

"Ah, no, I don't think you should have to buy three sets of airplane tickets, Roger, isn't that a bit..."

"Expensive? You're forgetting the Wammy's fund, Mello. Money is not an object."

_"Hello? I'm still here!"_ the phone buzzed. Roger held out his hand, and I blinked and handed over the cell.

I left them to discuss plans while I shuffled outside and sat on the front steps to the doors. If I was in anybody's way, big deal. Run me over.

"Mello, you're tired," a certain blond noted. I looked up into the familiar eyes of Linda.

"Finally, somebody I know besides Gwyn!" I exclaimed as she sat down next to me and we hugged. "It's been to long."

"That's not my fault," she laughed. "And you know G and D."

"But I didn't _grow up_ with them."

"Touche."

We sat there and exchanged stories on recent happenings, and Linda stole a square of chocolate. Can't say I was okay with that, but what could I do about it? Not like I could hit a girl.

"Mello, Mello, look at the fish I caught!" I knew that voice...

Oh, it was Diego. For a second, I thought...

No, it was just nostalgia. There was no way Andrew was here, much less sounding like a twelve year old again. I turned my head to praise the two-pound catch, while absent mindedly wondering if it was even allowed to fish in the Wammy's lake.

The rest of the day went like that. Calmly, even peaceful. The kids eventually divided up for a game of soccer, and I couldn't help but root for Gwyn's team. Well, I can't help it, she's the only one I know! In the end, her team won, but that was probably because their goal was considerable smaller, given the fact that they were using trees to mark the goals.

I looked around, taking in the summer scenery. There was a boy in swim shorts putting on sunscreen. I almost reflexively reached my hand up to touch my own slightly-more severe burn. Would have taken a _lot_ of sunscreen to keep that little burn from hurting so bad. A group of girls in bikini's were gathered around in a powwow, and I realized that one of those brunettes was Gwyn. I considered heading over just to hear a familiar voice, but decided against it. It would look like I was hitting on her or something, then the cannibals that were the teenage girls gathered around her would twist the reality beyond recognition.

On to happier thoughts.

* * *

**A/N: ahh, it's done. You have no **_**idea**_** how much of a writer's block I had with this. **

**My motto: If it's boring, it probably needs fluff. **

**But I could find no possible way to insert said fluff into the Mello POV here at ALL. And I apologize for the short, stand-still ish chappie. **

**Like I said, Writer's block =/**


	40. Catch

**A/N: GOOD NEWS~ MY SHORT LITTLE PERIOD OF TIME IN WICH I HAD WRITER'S BLOCK HAS **_**DISAPPEARED~**_

**Oh, and another thing, guys: There IS in fact a plot going on as we speak. I hate to say it right now, but Matt and Rose are blinded and... well, for lack of better words, they're kind of **_**retarded**_** compared to Mello. In other words, they're only believing/seeing what they see **_**best**_** for their current situation.**

**A random fact that has nothing to do with the current situation: Even now, at this moment, I still feel like I'm in the wave pool at bigsplash. **

**THANKS FOR TAKING ME, MOONY! :D**

**Apologies if you think my stories are getting a tad bit darker. I'm kind of depressed as of late, guys.**

**Wow... chapter 40... I've come a LONG way from starting as a RP between a few friends... **

**=^..^=**

**The song for this chapter is: I Have Friends in Holy Spaces **by **Panic! at the Disco**

* * *

Chapter 40: Catch

I looked out the window at the ground. If it weren't for Matt sitting right next to me, I would have been having a panic attack. For some reason, _I_ had ended up at the window seat.

He held my hand.

Which wouldn't have been indicative to how terrified I was, if it weren't for the fact that I was probably turning his hand purple...

"Jeez, Rose," he chuckled. "You'd think you were on the Zingo." The Zingo was an extremely fast, narrow-tracked roller coaster that was so scary, I've only been on it once. Then again, it was about a minute long, and you thought you were about to run into a wall more often than not. And the time I was on it was when I was twelve.

"I don't care," I said, breaking my facade of calmness and falling over onto his shoulder. He chuckled even more, setting his head on mine, yawning.

"Few more hours, Rose. You can do it," he said absently as I dozed off, too.

* * *

Walking down the isle for like, the hundredth time, I asked a man if he'd like a refill of coffee. He shook his head, and I smiled the cheesy, fake smile that I was trained to give anybody and everybody no matter what the circumstances were. I turned and sighed. _I've got to get a better job._

A little kid pointed at me, and his mother shushed him.

"But I want the firework pin!" he whined. I rolled my eyes. I was wearing a light up firework pin on my vest, since it was close to the fourth of July. I bent down and grabbed another one off the cart, handing it to the child.

"Thank you," his mom said graciously.

"Hey, you and I both know the last thing an airplane needs is a crying toddler." She nodded in agreement.

I pushed the cart further down, and paused. Okay, in all my seventeen years, this had to be the most adorable thing I've seen next to my kitten cuddling with my German Shepard. But the effect was similar.

She didn't look to be much older than myself, and he looked, maybe three, four years older than she was. Her arm was over his chest, her hand gripping his shirt. His head was resting on hers, which was resting on his own shoulder. She was clearly asleep, but he was fighting sleep. I smiled. Finally, we might have somebody on this airplane who wasn't here _just because_ their family was dragging them up for the holidays. Perhaps they were going on vacation together?

I walked up to them with a blanket, and it looked like I reached them just as the red-headed man fell asleep. I smiled to myself as I spread the blanket over them. It just felt good to know that _somebody_ was happy, seeing as I certainly wasn't. Being a flight attendant... ugh.

I _really_ needed a good job, if I was reduced to purposely _looking_ for people who were happier than me.

Ugh.

* * *

"You absolutely positive that you want to do this?" I asked her. She nodded, taking a deep breath and reaching over to grab my hand for a squeeze.

"Positive." But she didn't move.

"Alright," I said, letting her hand go and opening the car door, walking around to let her out on her side. "Why are you so nervous?" I asked as we walked up the steps and knocked on the door.

"Hello?" a middle aged man opened the door. Whoa. I was expecting a little, raven haired copy of Rose. Defenitely wasn't expecting a _man_ either.

"That..." Rose mumbled.

"Huh?" his eyes flickered to Rose's face. "...!"

"Akihito?" I heard a small yet authorative voice call from deeper inside the house. The man turned his head. A small, bony hand grabbed 'Akihito's' upper arm, gently pushing him out of the way. "Do we have guests?"

As was (partially) expected, this time, a mousy, short woman with Rose's cheekbones and stress wrinkles came to the door. The real mystery was how Rose could get hair as black as hers, from hair as brown as her mom's.

Her tiny, brown eyes took in Rose's face the second she popped her head out the doorway. The scene was... it was tense, to say the least.

"R..." Mrs. Lawliet choked out. Or was it still Lawliet? I eyed the tall, thin man standing beside her.

Rose nodded, and I could tell that, for her, this was one of those moments where you _wanted_ to cry, but you were too happy to do so. I considered stepping away so they could have a moment, but her mother's arms encircled us both.

"Rose..." she whispered. "They... they told us three months ago not to expect a body to be recovered... I don't suppose they factored in the fact that my baby's a genius?" he said shakily.

Alright. That's it. I felt like a leech. There should be three people here, not three and a leech. I wanted to step away, to, you know, give them some _room_, but Akihito was now hugging Rose, whoch put a parent on either side of me. I honestly think that at the moment they didn't care less who I was or what I was doing with their daughter. I could have been her kidnapper for all they knew, bringing her here for ransome and telling them that if they didn't give me money and something to eat I'd keep her. Or something. I don't know, don't ask me. Mello's the kidnapping expert...

But I wasn't really expecting Mrs. Lawliet to let go and face me, putting either hand on my shoulders.

"You kept my baby girl alive," she said, her watery eyes taking my face in. I was glad I wasn't the type to cry at mushy scenes, because I was currently wearing my goggles.

"I... I'm not so sure I'm the reason, ma'am..."

"What do you mean? Of course you are." Okay, that was settled. I could tell that the woman who was now hugging me and soaking my shirt was the type of 'I want it, I get it' kind of person.

I guess meeting her mom and possible step dad is a good thing anyhow.

Not really surprised that they started hugging me, either. I mean, come on, you just find out that your dead daughter is now standing on your doorstep with a red headed idiot wearing goggles. You're gonna have a happyfest.

"Well, come on, come in," her mother finally spoke up, her small hand firmly grasping mine and pulling me inside, Rose following, walking side by side with a very surreal looking Akihito.

Rose, Akihito and the mother that I have yet to hear her name all took the couch, leaving me to sit in the only chair, facing them. I would have liked to sit next to Rose, but they _did_ kinda just get their daughter back, so... yeah.

"I'm Emilee," her mom said, holding out her hand. I smiled, shaking it.

"I'm Matt," I told her, turning to shake Akihito's hand.

"I assume you'll be staying with us?" Akihito asked. Did I detect a bit of hopefullness in there?

"Uh, I don't want to impose-"

"No, you're fine," Emilee said. "In fact, we'd be perfectly happy if you decided to stay a while."

I blinked, looking at Rose out of the corner of my eye. She nodded, smirking.

"Uh... alright?" it was more of a question than a statement.

"I'll go get the guest bedroom ready," she said, standing up and patting my shoulder.

"Uh, Mom, that's not necessary..."

"What do you mean?" Akihito asked, standing up. "He's not sleeping on the couch." I sure hoped Rose was finding this as amusing as I was. So oblivious.

"Uh..." she looked at me and her expression clearly said 'HELP'. Aww, I was having fun!

"Ah, actually... she was referring to the fact that we usually- and nothing happens!" that they need ot know of... "we usually share a bed. I stay up with her until she falls asleep, and even then I usually stay awake anyway." Watching her smile in her sleep, but they didn't need to hear all the gorey details.

Akihito raised his eyebrow, and Emilee stifled an amused chuckle. "It's okay, Matt-san. She told you about her nightmares, didn't she?" Oh boy. If she was this oblivious, no offense, Rose, you mother's either pretty thick or just in denial.

No, I take that back. She was probably so happy to see her daughter, she was rendered momentarily blind.

Rose rolled her eyes, stood up and walked over to me, for Emilee had pulled me up off the chair and was leading me down the hall. Emilee stopped at a door in the hall, grabbing some sheets from a linen closet, then turned to another room with an empty bed in it and homey knick knacks on the shelves.

"Mom, we just said-"

"One night won't kill you. Besides, we need to have girl's night. Since you're not dead, we have some catching up to do." I liked her logic.

* * *

**A/N: I finished :3**

**This was originally a lot longer. **

**but my comp died.**

**So I'm editing it xD**

**I'm happy that my writer's block is lifted.~**


	41. Nail Polish and Mud Masks

**A/N: I'm sorry guise D:**

**I've been sick. =/**

**Also, sorry guys... MAJOR Writer's Block.**

**:|**

**If anybody can find/catch/MURDER my plot bunny and send it back? Please? Thank you and if you find any carrots, that'd be nice too o.o"**

**anywayy...**

**I have PLOT.**

**just GETTING to said plot is the hard part.**

**o.o"**

**...**

**I'll shut up now.**

* * *

Chapter 41: Nail Polish and Mud Masks

"Ouch!" I exclaimed as Mom pushed a cuticle back. "Take it easy, will you?"

"Well, sorry. When's the last time you did your nails?"

"... January, I think."

She chuckled. Ha, _she_ didn't know what _happened_ in January, and I didn't plan on telling her.

"I missed you..." she said, shaking the polish- Dark blue - against her wrist. The left wrist. With a new ring on her hand.

Not my daddy's ring. I'm not going to go into how the whole wedding worked, let's just say it was a very 'behind closed doors' affair and I'm pretty sure Watari was the priest.

Why did that _irk_ me so much? The ring thing, not Watari being priest.

"I missed you too," I said, hugging her.

When I had told Matt that I wanted to go to see my mother before we went to Wammy's, I never dreamed that I would actually miss her this much. In truth, I felt kinda bad for it, but...

I was just here for a box.

A blue, slightly sparkly box with a faded red ribbon.

I knew it wsa around here somewhere, _somewhere_ that box- the box with so many important information that I still haven't gone through- that box was in my house.

But first... I would have to accept the fact that I was _L. _Sure, I had the title, it was all mine, I could drop it, I could continue with minute interest, but... I wasn't being L. Wasn't being like my dad.

Sigh. My dad who had failed to tell me several important details. My dad who had led me to believe what the public believes... I'm not even sure at this point if they've ever even _convicted_ anybody of being the first Kira.

I was barely paying attention to the strings of jabbering Mom kept going on, nodding when appropriate and shaking my head when noted necessary. I had _no idea _what she was talking about when she asked me, "So, how is it going?"

"I'm sorry, how's what going?"

"You just told me you were in love, Rosie." Was _that_ what I had agreed to? Well, at least I didn't shake my head. I probably would have, if I had detected a disapproving tone but hadn't heard the question.

"Ah.. it's going..." to tone it down? Let's. "Fine," I finished lamely.

"Really?" she asked flatly. She folded her hands and rested her head on them, for she had finished my nails. "Rose, you're different." That simple, huh? Mommay knows best.

"Uhm, yeah. Like you said earlier, I'm not having nightmares anymore thanks to Matt. Sleep deprivation tends to make one zombie-like."

"Hmph," she simply said, not really knowing how to respond to that.

So basically the rest of the night went on like that until Mom declared it time for bed.

"Night, Rosie. Sweet dreams," she said, kissing my forehead- and for a split second I actually felt like a small child again- and turned to the door, leaving me there... alone... _without Matt..._

"Night, Mom."

"Oh, and Rosie?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't think for a moment that I will be letting any boy above the age of twelve sleep in the same room as you. You're in my house, after all~"

And on that cheery note, she closed the door, making me extremely thankful for the fact that I had insomnia and could only _really sleep_ in the arms of Matt.

* * *

I was 97% positive that Rose's adoptive 'Father'... yeah, he didn't give a shit about her.

Oh well.

Rose and her family are sleeping.

Which means: Matty snoops.

I didn't bother with all the 'bathroom cupboard snooping'... no, that was just downright low. But I _did_ search just about every room that they weren't sleeping in.

... what?

... It could be important, OKAY?

... I sound more stalkerish than I should be sounding. Anyway. I didn't _take_ anything except a popsicle I found in the fridge and I was like... so tired at the moment I don't believe I even registered what I was eating.

But I did find out... absolutely nothing. That, and the fact that, I'm guessing, Rose's Mom's wedding from L (Still having issues getting over the fact that I'm virtually- no I _am_ dating L) was metaphorical in the sense that it _didn't happen._

Oh, look, it's light out.

Damn, did I stay up all night basically stalking my 'mom in law'?

Oh, hey, it's morning, I guess it's acceptable to speak with Rose.

I shuffled upstairs, trying to knock the sleepiness out of my mind as I tried to remember which door was Rose's. Third on the... left? I was so tired it felt like I was stoned. Which, in all reality, isn't really all that _fun_.

I stood outside what I was pretty sure was her door and knocked, not really caring if she was awake. Of course there was no answer.

Pushing open the door, I saw her sprawled on the bed with newly manicured fingers clutching an open book, even though she was asleep. I sighed. _She fell asleep reading._

I walked over and sat on the bed, brushing her hair out of her face. I don't know why, but I was surprised to see her face was peaceful. Relaxed, happy, even. Smiling to myself, I lifted the book out of her hands and checked the cover. _Romeo & Juliet,_ a classic. I wondered if there was a particular reason for that book, but decided I was probably over thinking it. She was a very literate person; she was probably reading to just _read_.

Leaning on my elbow, I began to trace her shoulder, lightly trying to tickle her out of sleep. Giving up on her shoulder, I took a strand of hair between my fingers and tickled her face. She wrinkled her nose and groaned, but otherwise remained asleep. Sighing, I gave up on the hair and decided to just leave her be.

Laying down on the bed, I shifted her to a more comfortable position (unless curled up around a flashlight was comfy for her) and lay behind her, putting my arms around her waist. "Rose... Wake up..." Yeah, I don't wanna just 'leave her be'. Insert determined face here.

"Ro-o-o-ossssssse," I siezed her up and began rocking her gently to wake her up.

"What the Hell?" she asked groggily as I held her like a toddler.

"You wouldn't wake up. I woke you up." I was intimidated, slightly, by the look she gave me.

I rolled my eyes, grabbing her and laying down to just talk. I needed to stay _up._

**Squeak.**

Insert ebil plan here...

"Uhg," Rose said, twisting out of my grasp and sitting up. "My bed is so _creaky!_" I raised my eyebrow and smirked. "What? ... Matt, don't you dare. Matt. _MATT." _

"I wanna go outside," I complained as I pinned her down, bouncing with excitement.

"Matt, stop!"

I got off her and continued to bounce, the boxspring acting crappy and squeaking with my rhythm. She tried not to laugh, I could see it, she wanted to laugh!

"Matt, I do not know you," she said, sitting up and putting her hand over her mouth.

"Let's go outsi-i-i-de," I bounced. She stood up, this time flat out giggling.

"I am not on the bed. You can stop now. Wanna go for a walk Fido or was that just to embarass me?"

To tell you the truth, I didn't know what that was for.

"... Lay back down. I want a kiss."

"What?"

"Get over here, woman," I said, bouncing more.

"Matt, my _mom_ is in this house!"

"Pfft, so?"

"... You set this up on purpose. Paper-thin walls, Matt. You're not an idiot."

"... Can you please get back over here?" I smiled in what I hoped was an 'innocent' way.

"Make up your mind. Outside or fucking _kissing?"_ Wow, she cursed. I must have ticked her off. DAMAGE CONTROL~

"... -ing or _and_ kissing?" I asked, not bouncing anymore and crawling towards her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her over to lay down with me.

"Hands off. -ing, genius."

"... sad face."

"... Sad face?"

"Not like I'm gonna say Colan Parenthisis."

"True."

"That could be misinterpreted for a smilee face."

"... What... the hell?"

"Rose? You alright in there?" her mom called. Visions of sawed off shotguns and baseball bats ran through my head.

"_Stand back up,"_ I whispered in her ear, and she willingly complied.

"Yeah, Mom," she said, rolling her eyes at me.

"Alright..." she said and I heard footsteps shuffle down the hall.

I grabbed her and wrapped my arms around her, while the squeak from the bed may or may not have been amplified by my imagination. The door opened, nonetheless.

"Matt, I'll warn you once, and I'll warn you only now. I _do_ keep a gun in my room. And I will _not_ hesitate to use it if need be."

"Mom!" Rose sat up. "It's not _my_ fauld my Matt's so damn _rapeable!" _See, anybody would have thought she was being defensive for _herself_. _I_ thought she was protecting my _life,_ which I was _extremely_ thankful for. But...

"I'm... Rapeable?" Look who was talking.

Yeah, I think we've scarred yet another person. For life.

* * *

**SOOO**

**Where does that leave Matt and Rose? ****find out in a chapter that I'm kinda already starting.**

**Teehee. Hopefully, the drive to Wammy's will be in the next chappie... **


	42. On The Road Again

**A/N: TEEHEE plot is better now :3**

**And to the person who noticed that it was basically just all leading up to another chapter, you are semi-right... I mean, aren't all chapters just leading up to the end? :D**

**Haha, seriously, though... I was distracted...**

**Like... mentally distracted.**

**Anyway~**

**I love you readers! 8DDD**

**… Ohyeah, and my niece wanted me to mention that we're all gonna be HIPPIES! :DDDD**

**sorryy for the short chapter... Writers block is gripping me for this story.**

**Thanks to Ash for beta-ing~ **

* * *

Chapter 42: On the Road Again

"What possessed you to call me rapeable?" Matt asked as I rolled down the window, the little blue box resting between my legs.

"It's true," I said, grinning. He rolled his eyes.

"What makes you say that?"

"... you do _not_ want me to elaborate."

"... I'll take your word on that..."

"You'd better," I said, teasing him lightly. I looked longingly at a passing Steakn'Shake. "Can we stop? I need to stretch my legs..." the last time I stood up was when we had to get off the plane from Tokyo to London.

… like, four hours ago.. plus the car ride...

Seven hours. And because of the time change, it was still light out.

"Sure," he said, yawning. I eyed him.

"You need a pit stop anyway. Keep going, there should be a motel somewhere around here."

"Rose, we don't need a motel. There's an actual _ho-_tel not too far from Wammy's. We can stop there and make our way to the orphanage in the morning." I looked at him through narrowed eyes, but the effect was considerably less effective because of the fact that I hadn't slept in about two days.

"Matt. I can and will boss you around."

"...?"

"Technically _you_ are _my_ successor."

"..."

"I'm L. Really, now that Near's all on his own and Mello's one now, you're just number two." I grinned as he looked at me with a face that said 'she did _not_ just play that card'. I smiled, but still glared at him good naturedly.

"... fine. I'll pull into a motel," he gave in.

"Great," I said through a yawn. "I think we're both delirious. You're swerving," I said passively, like a mother would remind their kid that they had left the tap running. "A good nights sleep after..." I chuckled, "after Mom basically beat you with a broom, wouldn't you think?"

"I don't get it!" he whined. "I thought she liked me!"

"Matt, she absolutely adores you."

"... I shall have bruises on my back that I will be feeling for months. I don't think she thinks I'm so adorable anymore."

I laughed. "Matt, think about it. _You_ would beat somebody for _me,_ right?"

"... two completely different... situ-"

"But you would, right?"

"... yes..."

"Then it is _not_ a completely different situation. Mom loves me, you love me, therefore beating must be ensued." I laughed.

"_Your logic is no longer logical!"_ he said, pulling into a motel and looking at me through his goggles.

I leaned over and kissed his nose, but then just got out of the car. _Ugh, headache..._

"Well? You coming?" I asked as I turned around to enter the motel.

* * *

"So what's with the box?" I asked.

"The box," she informed me with a yawn (we hadn't gone to bed yet), "is the whole reason I wanted to stop in Tokyo."

"... I got beaten for a box..."

"Do you wanna get beaten again?"

"No Ma'am," I replied instantly without thinking. _Wait..._ "Hang on, you're like... three years younger than me. You should _not_ intimidate me the way you do," I chuckled. We both just laughed it off.

"So," she sighed, rubbing her temples and aligning the corners of the box with the table perfectly, with such concentration you'd think this action would solve every bit of our problems. "Let's take a look, shall we?" She was serious about this. It must be important.

Lifting the lid off the box as if she were disarming a bomb, she carefully set it down and immediately began pawing through the box. From what I could see, it was all paper.

"No use..." she mumbled, tipping the box over and spreading the paper over the table. I gasped as I realized what this was.

This was everything to do with the Kira case.

"Rose, what's in that?"

"All of the information on the Light Yagami-Misa Amane/Yagami investigations on Kira that my dad left. We already know, without this stuff, that a Death Note is used. Mello's told us _how _a Death Note is used. Now we have evidence to finally end the Light Yagami case, re-convict Misa, and possibly find the means to convict Amaia." Her voice was rough, like she had a sore throat. I nodded and stood up, walking to the kitchen area as she continued talking. "If I can prove that Light was guilty, I have my revenge. I know it's no use convicting a dead man, Matt, but I need this..." I sat down by her again with some non-aspirin and a glass of water.

"Here. I know," I soothed, draping my arm over her shoulder. She picked up the pill, brought it to her lips, but then sat it down again. I raised my eyebrow as she stood up and headed to the kitchen. She smiled and shrugged before disappearing behind the refrigerator door.

"They have cake!"

…

And so the investigation got serious.

"Really?" I stood up and tromped over to the fridge.

…

And so I got hungry, too!

"You can't have any."

… and so I got nothing...


End file.
